Jaune's Guilty Pleasure
by BananaFoxKayri
Summary: Jaune has a hobby most people would find strange or frown upon. Unfortunately the poor boy can't help himself, he was born to do what he does. They do say that the pen is mightier than the sword. Watch antics unfold as Jaune tries to keep his guilty pleasure away from his friends. Especially Blake.
1. Chapter 1- Not so very humble beginnings

**Authors Notes: Hello and welcome to my story Jaune's Guilty Pleasure! This story is purely comical so there will be fewer mentions to canon, other than the beginning, than normal. The chapters will normally take place between the events of canon after the first day or two. I mean they transitioned from the third day during 'The Badge and the Burden" to a couple of weeks later during "Jaundice" so there are plenty of days I can use between canon. There will also be many differences from canon, some small, some big, but differences nonetheless.**

**This is a work of fiction, and a comedy, the characters will act slightly different to their 'canon' self. In other words, most (if not all) characters will be acting differently than how they normally would.**

**Lastly, this will be JaunexHarem. Not because I can't choose between the girls, or that I can't imagine any of the girls with anyone but Jaune, or because I don't enjoy one on one pairings. This will be JaunexHarem because I am a sadistic bastard and want to watch Jaune suffer through having to balance the affections of multiple girls at once. However, this won't be 100% harem, as Jaune will only actually have romantic feelings for one girl. Who it is will be revealed later on… Maybe.**

**On that note, hope you enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any mentioned franchises, those all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 1- Not so very humble beginnings.

"Huurgh!"

The new students of Beacon walked briskly around a vomiting knight as they approached their new school, being careful not to stand in the splash zone. Fortunately or unfortunately for the poor boy, he was too busy emptying his stomach to notice.

"Oh gross, Yang! You got vomit on your shoe" Cried a girl from behind the blond boy. He turned his head slightly to see a girl in a red hooded cloak. She had dark red hair and appeared to be a little younger than the people around her.

The knight winced slightly as the blond girl next to her, Yang, screeched. "Eew, get it off, Ruby get it off!"

"Yang, don't wipe it on me! I just got this cloak!"

Meanwhile, in a tree in the distance, a black haired girl was reading what appeared to be a manga. The sun glinted off her triangle shades as she watched the blond bombshell freak out. "…"

After finishing up… Reverse eating his breakfast, the knight watched in mixed amusement and curiosity as the younger girl from before, Ruby, exploded along with a white haired, rich looking girl. "I can't believe you dolt!" Scolded the older of the two. "How could you? That was Schnee property you just destroyed. Not to mention you could have nearly killed us!" She frowned as she waved a container of red dust around, again. Ruby appeared to be on the verge of tears as she sniffled like a kid after getting in trouble.

"I'm sowwy" she sniffled, "but that dust just made me- made me-"

The boy stifled his laughter as he watched the two explode once more, and who said lightning never struck the same place twice?

Then again, that wasn't lightning.

"That's it," yelled the white haired girl as she threw her hands in the air, "I'm leaving before you destroy the whole school with your adorable sneezes," and with that the girl stormed off, her suitcases and slaves - ahem - _servants_ in tow. Ruby tilted her head in confusion as she sat on the floor, still recovering from the explosion.

"Did she just call my sneezes adorable?" she wondered aloud. Ruby blinked as a hand appeared in her vision.

"Need some help?" Smiled the blond knight, blue eyes closed and hand outstretched. "The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

"…" The lack of response caused Jaune to open his eyes.  
"Huh?" He smartly said. The girl disappeared. "Where did she-"

"Hi my name's Ruby Rose! What's yours?" Smiled Ruby as she spoke to the ebony haired girl. Jaune sighed dejectedly, 'she ignored me' he cried in his mind. The two watched as the girl closed her book with an audible thump.

The book girl gave her a grin as she shouted out for the courtyard to hear, "who am I? I'm Blake Belladonna. Who the hell do you think I am?" flashing a toothy grin, the girl mainly dressed in black and white backflipped gracefully off the tree and ran off. If you looked closely, however, you could see her blushing madly.

"…" Ruby was speechless.

"Was that a mecha?... And a copy of Gurren Laggan?" Asked Jaune, suddenly next to Ruby. The girl gasped and jumped, surprised by the boys sudden appearance.  
Getting over her shock the girl smiled as she asked, "who are you?" Jaune face faulted.  
He sighed and decided to do his 'awesome' introduction once more.

"The name's Jaune-" Ruby giggled, interrupting his 'awesome' introduction.

"Oh, I know!" She smiled gleefully, "you're that guy who vomited on the airship, then in that trash can, then on my sister. So Vomit Boy, watcha doin'?"

Silence ensued for a few seconds as Jaune struggled to comprehend the girl before him. "I give up" he sighed, breaking the silence. _Well Jauney-boy_ he thought to himself, _you only get one first impression, and I think you blew it_.

"You're giving up already? But we only just got here. C'mon Vomit Boy lets go!" Cheered Ruby, clutching Jaune's arm as the two marched off.

* * *

"I'm telling you, motion sickness is a common problem!" Cried the blonde knight.

Ruby giggled, "yeah sure, Vomit Boy." Jaune glared at the girl.

"Oh yeah? How would you like it if I called you Crater Face?" he shot back.

The younger girl groaned, "That was an accident" The knight gave her a look,

"Well, it's not like I wanted to vomit on the airship… and in the trash can… and on your sister…" The two walked in awkward silence.

"Uh Ruby?"

"Yes Jaune?"

"Where are we going?" he inquired.

"Huh? I was following you."  
The two sighed as they analysed their surroundings. They had somehow managed to find themselves in a very gardenesque area, complete with a fountain.

"Weren't we supposed to meet at the hall?"

"Pfft, it's fine." Ruby scoffed. "Anyway, show me your thing!" She exclaimed.

Jaune took a step back, completely misunderstanding her question.  
"My, uh, what now?" he said as he blushed a shade of red similar to her cloak.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean, your weapon!"

Jaune took another step back, "Ruby, I barely know you. You can't just be asking some stranger to-" Ruby cocked her head in confusion.

"What are you talking about? Y'know what, I'll just show you mine!" She grinned.  
Jaune stared in disbelief as the cute girl brought out a scythe practically twice the size of her.

"Jaune, meet Crescent Rose. She's my weapon, best friend and lover." She lovingly caressed the blade, "oh baby~" Jaune's mind went into overload. 'Her what?'

Jaune felt the air leave his lungs as Ruby tackled him onto his back, "I showed you mine, now show me yours!" She all but demanded.

"Gah, Ruby what-"

"Rubes? Where are you? The meeting in the hall's about to begin and I, like the caring sister that I am, came to find you. C'mon we're going to be late!" Jaune's heart stopped cold. It was Yang, Ruby's sister. "There you… are" she trailed of once she saw Jaune.

"Well dust dammit" Groaned Jaune, today was just not his day. Ruby on the other hand was pouting.

"Yaaaaaang, he was just about to show me his 'weapon'!" she whined. Jaune paled, 'Ruby, you're not helping!'

Yang's eye twitched. "His weapon you say?" She growled out, fists clenched. "Vomit boy, you are so dead for attempting to defile my sister!" Jaune gulped, this was not going to end well.

Needless to say, it didn't.

* * *

After his short encounter with Yang's fists of fury, and ten minutes of unconsciousness, Jaune managed to find his way to the assembly area just in time to see the white haired girl from earlier start spouting nonsense about dust and dunces to Ruby and Yang. Deciding he didn't want to deal with them, especially Yang, he continued on his merry way as the dust girl handed Ruby a 'Dust for Dummies and other inadequate individuals' booklet.

"Wait, so let me get this straight. You, Ruby Rose, actually exploded?"

Ruby groaned. "For the thousandth time, yes Yang, I exploded"

The dust girl growled at the two. "Are you two dunces even listening?"

Yang grinned, ignoring the annoyed girl. "Well Ruby, at least we can say your first day was a 'blast'!"

"…"

"…"

"I, uh, realised that I have something to do… Over there… Away from you," mumbled the girl in white as she slowly stepped away.

Ruby looked awkwardly around to find something. Withholding a shout of joy Ruby smiled. "Oh, hey! I see Jaune, bye sis!" she yelled, running off in the direction of the blond knight.

Yang looked in confusion as the two girls left. "Was it something I said?" She wondered. "Wait. Wasn't Jaune that guy who tried to molest Ruby?" after a moments pause Yang sprinted off to find her sister.

"Heya Jaunie!" Exclaimed Ruby as she rocked back and forth on her toes.

Jaune turned around to see the young reaper smiling brightly. He wasn't sure whether to be glad or afraid. She was his new, and only, friend. He really had no one else to talk to here so her presence was comforting. Her sister's presence however, not as comforting. Shaking the thoughts out of his head Jaune shot her a grin.

"What, no Vomit Boy?" He smiled at her teasingly.

Ruby giggled, "why? Do you want to be called that?" Jaune responded with a laugh.

"Hahahahaha- No" He ended, heavily emphasising 'no'.

The two stood around awkwardly as they waited for the other to say something. It was then that they realised they were both socially inadequate. Jaune shifted uncomfortably, why was it so hard to come up with something to talk about? Ruby on the other hand was thinking about how she should word what she was next about to say.

"Uh, Jaune?" She murmured.

"Yes Ruby?"

She took a deep breath. "So, why did you help me up in the courtyard?" She queried. Jaune fought back the urge to tell her angrily that she had ignored his attempt at being awesome and suave back in the courtyard.

Instead he decided to be civil about it.

"Firstly, I didn't exactly help you up seeing as you ignored me." Ruby laughed sheepishly, "And secondly, why wouldn't I help out a friend?" The younger girl gave him a confused look.

"But we weren't exactly friends at the time." Jaune gave her the biggest smile he could muster.

"My mum always says 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet!"

Ruby gave him a pointed look.  
"Jaune, that mindset can get you in big trouble one day" Jaune rolled his eyes and massaged his temples.

He gave her a look, "Why can't you ever just let me be cool for once?" The rose stifled a giggle.

"Isn't it obvious? If you were cool, you wouldn't be Jaune!"

"Well thank you for the vote of confidence."

After another couple of seconds of awkward silence Ruby decided to speak up again, this time her voice holding a seriousness that didn't suit what he had seen of her personality.

"Seriously though Jaune. Why did you help me?" She wanted to know what type of person he was.

Jaune put on a thoughtful look for a moment before putting on his signature grin. "Well if you can answer this for me, I'll tell you."

Ruby nodded.  
"Why wouldn't I help you?" She wasn't expecting this. She thought he would say something goofy like 'who wouldn't help a cute girl in trouble?' not question her question. It was her question dammit. She decided to ignore it in favour of teasing him.

"I thought I told you to stop being cool. You can't be cool, you're Jaune!" Jaune glared at her,

"So what did it feel like getting blown up"

"It hurt about as much as when Yang pummelled you" she shot back,

"Touché"

The two laughed for a bit before a loud cough drew the attention of everyone in the room. On the stage was a man whose appearance and voice sounded more cryptic than… Something that was cryptic. Jaune deadpanned, he was horrible with metaphors. "Who is he?" He whispered to Ruby.  
She cocked her head in confusion. "Don't you know? That's the headmaster of Beacon." Realising that the speech may be important, he decided to listen.

"Ahem, I'll keep this brief."

* * *

"…aun…"  
"Ja…"  
"…omit Boy!"

Jaune woke up with a jump. Who slaps a person while they were sleeping?

"Huh?" He looked around confused.

Ruby giggled, "You kinda fell asleep during the speech. Around the time he said 'ahem'. How you can sleep standing I have no clue." She mumbled the last part to herself.

The hooded girl giggled once more as Jaune blushed a similar shade to her scythe. Seeing this, he decided to turn the tables. "Well it was great waking up to a beautiful girl, but what did I miss?" He asked as he stretched. He moaned in satisfaction as his back made several loud popping sounds.  
Meanwhile, Ruby was stuttering madly whilst matching the colour of her hood. She'd never been called beautiful before, cute definitely, but never beautiful.

After a few moments the younger of the two finally regained her composure. "You, uh, actually missed out on quite a bit of things." Before she could continue, Ruby spotted something in the distance. "_Gottagobye!_" She yelled before speeding off. Jaune stared blankly at the empty space that Ruby used to occupy.

"She never told me what I missed." He mumbled. The knight sighed, reluctantly moving forward. "Ah great, where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"

Meanwhile, a red haired girl watched from behind him. She smirked, "interesting." Nodding to herself she decided to follow him.

After rounding a corner Jaune walked into the dust girl from before, literally, sending the two sprawling to the floor. "Watch where you're going you dunce!" she shot him a glare as she yelled. Jaune chuckled.

"Sorry about that princess."

Her glare didn't loosen. "It's heiress to you," she snapped. Jaune gave her a strange look.

"Heiress to what exactly?" This time her glare harshened.

"Do you not know who I am?" she asked disbelievingly. The knight took up a thoughtful position.

"Nope, not a clue."

"I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee dust company." Jaune stood up and extended his hand.

"Jaune Arc, pleasure to meet you Weiss."  
Weiss rolled her eyes and got up herself.

"Pleasures all yours you dunce." Jaune mentally cried, why don't girls like it when he tries to help them up? Jaune looked her over.

"So are you okay? Does anything hurt?" Ignoring his concern she turned to leave.

"Hold up Snow Angel, I need to ask you something" He called out to her leaving figure. Weiss shot him another glare.

"What did you just call me?" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"S-sorry, kinda just came out."

Weiss sighed, "If you ever must refer to me, call me Weiss or don't talk to me at all." Jaune nodded. "Now what did you want to ask me?"  
The knight shifted uncomfortably on the spot.

"I, uh, fell asleep during the whole speech thing, mind telling me what's going on?" Weiss frowned for a moment and massaged her temples.

She sighed, "might as well, after all, we're most likely never going to talk to each other again. Ever" Jaune gave her a toothy grin, ignoring the emphasis on 'ever'.

* * *

Jaune yawned out loud as he stretched. He had his fluffy blue onesie, complete with blue bunny feet. It was comfortable, easy to move in and it leaves a good impression. Or at least, that's what his mum and seven sisters say. He scanned the room in search of where he put his stuff. The first years were to rest in the ballroom for the night before their 'initiation' the next day. He saw that Ruby was sitting with her sister, both watching something on their laptop.

Continuing his look around the room he saw the weird girl from earlier. Deciding to try and make another friend he walked closer. "Hey, you're that girl with the manga in the tree!" He called out.

The black haired girl, Blake, blushed briefly before giving him a look. "And?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Jaune sweatdropped. "Uhh… Whatcha reading?" he asked in an attempt to alleviate the awkwardness of the situation. The girl appeared to be a slight introvert, and if he had learnt anything today, he had learnt that he has relative luck with making friends out of the socially awkward type, case and point Ruby.

"It's a book, what does it look like?"

Jaune facepalmed. Scratch that, it was just pure dumb luck he made friends with Ruby. This was going to be hard.

Jaune froze in place as he heard a voice from beside him. "Hi! I'm Yang, and this is my sister Ruby!" Ruby appeared from behind her.

"Hi" she mumbled meekly.

Meanwhile Jaune slowly tried to walk away. _If she sees me, I'm toast_ he thought to himself. He nearly cried when he heard a twig snap under his foot. _Ok what the actual-_ "You!" Growled Yang, her smile faded into an enraged frown.

Ruby blinked in confusion. "Jaune when did you get there? And what's a stick doing inside?" Ignoring her sister, Yang continued to glare at Jaune.

"You're the guy who vomited on me and tried to molest my sister!" Blake watched the situation in interest, glad that she wasn't a part of it.

Jaune sighed and decided to amend Yang's misunderstanding. "In my defence, it's not my fault I get motion sick. But I am sorry that a small part of my vomit managed to bounce off the trashcan in your general direction and land on your foot of all places. It was _all_ my fault." He said trying to protect any vital parts of his body from Yang's wrath.

Ruby decided to put in her own two cents. "He has a point-"

"Shut it Rubes" Yang growled.

"Shutting it"

"Also, your sister was the one who was adamant on seeing my 'weapon'" he continued, air quoting 'weapon'.

Ruby pouted. "I would've been able to see his weapon if you didn't interrupt Yang!" The brawler stayed silent for a moment as she took in the information.

"All right then, Jaune was it? I'll let it go for now, but if I see you touch Ruby, look at Ruby or even think about Ruby in an inappropriate way. Lets just say you wont be able to touch, look or think again." She stated calmly, cracking her knuckles for emphasis. It was then Jaune realised that a calm Yang, was a deadly Yang.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Weeeeeelll, whatcha reading Blake?" Ruby asked, trying to alleviate the awkwardness of the situation. Blake seemed to be a slight introvert, and if she had learnt anything today, she had learnt that she has relative luck with making friends out of the socially awkward type, case and point Jaune.

"It's a book, what does it look like?"

This time _both_ Jaune and Ruby facepalmed.

Jaune groaned. "She meant what is the book about!" he said exasperatedly.

Blake looked at the two blankly for a solid minute before deciding to answer. "It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body." She stated calmly.

"Really? 'Cause it looks like smut!" Commented Yang from behind the ebony haired girl. Jaune watched as all of Blake's calmness was thrown out the window, along with Yang.

"It is not smut, it is _art._" She snapped at the shattered window. Jaune stared in awe as Yang jumped through the window without a scratch, unfazed by the situation.

She grinned, "if that's art, then I need to visit the art gallery in town more often." Blake blushed while Jaune and Ruby looked at the two in confusion.

"There's an art gallery in town?" Asked Jaune.

"Wait, so it isn't about a man with two souls?" Asked Ruby.

Yang's grin widened. "Nope, but there is a lady with two of something else that's described _really_ well in this book." She teased. Blake's blush deepened.

Yang's brow rose when she saw the picture that accompanied the title of the next chapter. "That guy kinda looks like you Jaune" she commented. Jaune stiffened slightly, there was no way that it was _that_ book… Right?

"Can-can I see that book for a sec?" the knight scrambled to the two young women reading the book, just standing slightly to the left of his fellow blond. "What's this book called again?"

Yang smirked at him. The amusement in her eyes was obvious. "It's called 'Ninjas of Love', why? You want a copy of Blake's _art_?"

The three girls blinked wordlessly as Jaune quickly ran away, "_Well-its-been-great-talking-to-you-bye!_" he shouted back.

"What's his problem?" Yang asked.

Blake's eye (and bow) twitched slightly as Yang turned the page, a strand of her hair wiggling happily as she read. "You done?" she all but growled out.

"Nope."

* * *

Jaune gasped for air when he finally came to a stop, who knew moving at the speed of sound can really wind you? After catching his breath Jaune decided to get back to finding his stuff, and nothing was going to stop, distract or trip him up.

*Thunk*

Dust dammit. He looked behind him to see that he had tripped over some person hunched in a blanket. "What the dust is your problem?" yelled the speed bump. Jaune stifled a laugh when he saw that he had tripped over Weiss.

"Hey Weiss, guess you were wrong about not talking agai-" He stopped midsentence, looking down. Scratch that last comment. Jaune stifled an embarrassed shriek when he saw that he had tripped over Weiss _changing_.

The half-dressed heiress followed the blond knights line of sight, wondering why he had stopped talking so abruptly.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"YOU PERVERTED DUNCE!" she screamed. Jaune yelped as she went for a slap with her right hand, covering herself with the other. Fortunately or unfortunately, Jaune's reactions were fast enough that he managed to dodge the slap. By slipping on an article of clothing and falling onto his would-be attacker.

Weiss blushed a bright shade of red when she realised the position they landed on. "Gah! You perverted dunce! What are you doing?" She squealed uncharacteristically.

"What am I doing?" Jaune retaliated. "What are you doing changing there? The changing rooms are over that way!" He snapped. There was no way she was blaming him for this. Moving to get up he blushed as he moved his hand and felt… Absolutely nothing. _How did I trip over these, they're flatter than the horizon!_ He thought incredulously. _No wonder she didn't want to get changed with the rest of the girls, I'm actually embarrassed that I tripped over them._

Jaune felt his spine freeze. "Hey Jaune you left your notepad back with…" Trailed off a voice from behind him. Slowly turning his head Jaune saw Yang with a stupefied expression on her face. "What? You can't have my sister, so you turned gay?"

"I'm a girl!" Growled Weiss. Yang raised a brow as she looked further down.

"When I first saw you I thought so as well, but now. I seriously doubt that."

"They're still developing!"

The knight pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Why me?" he asked to no one in particular.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Her flat chest aside-"

"Hey!"

"Jaune, you left this notepad over where we were." Jaune paled whiter than Weiss' hair.

"None of you read it right?" he asked hastily, upon closer inspection one could see his body shaking immensely. Yang, however, grinned.

"Why? Is this your diary?" Before she realised what happened Jaune had gotten up and swiped the notepad. Frantically flicking through pages Jaune sighed in relief.

"Good, everything's still in order. Wait, where's my pen?" Yang gestured to behind her.

Jaune and a now clothed Weiss both looked behind Yang to see Ruby using the laser pointer feature on Jaune's pen. The reaper was playing around by pointing it at the wall and moving it every so often. What made the scene comical was that Blake was persistently trying to 'catch' the red dot. On her face was, according to Jaune, the cutest curious expression ever made. Yang stifled a giggle, even though the expression didn't suit her silent personality, it helped accentuate her beauty by adding a touch of childishness.

"I see that Ruby's made a new friend." Jaune commented.

Yang smiled in a proud fashion, "yep!"

Weiss glared at the younger girl.  
"I still can't believe that she was air-headed enough to blow up my dust!" She frowned.

Jaune yawned, "well this was fun and all, but I kinda want to get to sleep. Y'know, get some rest for the whole big initiation test thing tomorrow."

Yang nodded in agreement. "Well, see ya and good luck."

"Night Yang" he yawned. Walking away, he turned to Weiss. "Oh and Weiss, try not to frown. It takes away from your beauty." With that last comment he walked off to find his belongings… again.

Yang began to walk off herself, giving the two a wave as she waltzed over to Ruby. "Night Vomit Boy, night Princess"

"I'm an heiress!"

"Whatever floats your boat Princess."

* * *

It was now midnight, the broken moon shone brightly on the sleeping students. One student in particular wasn't asleep however. Mentally psyching himself, a blond knight in a blue onesie silently surveyed his surroundings.

"Good, no one's awake" he stealthily grabbed his pen and notepad. Nodding to himself Jaune got up and, with the stealth of Santa on Christmas Eve, he walked around the room and tapped three specific people on the head. Each time he'd tap one of them his eyes would flash for the fraction of a second as his hand's glowed a light yellow. Finished with his task, Jaune snuck back to his spot.

Unbeknownst to him, a pair of curious eyes watched the blond boy head back to his spot. Staring at him intently, they listened as the scratches of pen on paper filled the otherwise silent room.

* * *

Jaune grimaced. "This is ridiculous! There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high! Why does this have to happen today?" he groaned as he tried to make heads or tails of his map.

Meanwhile, Weiss was trying to recruit a certain red headed Spartan-like girl into her team. "Well I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together"

The Spartan girl smiled. "Well that sounds grand!"

"Great!"

The heiress smiled diabolically. _This will be perfect!_ She cackled madly in her head. _The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we'll be unstoppable! Nothing can come between us now!_ Not even seconds after that last thought Weiss was sent tumbling to the ground by a particular blond knight who had, inadvertently, come between them.

"We really need to stop meeting like this Snow Angel" he grinned. Standing up, he extended his hand to help her. Weiss scoffed and got up herself. _I'm getting a sense of déjà vu_ thought the knight. Deciding to ignore the fact that his third attempt at helping a girl up failed, Jaune continued. "Well, I heard a couple of rumours about teams! I was thinking you and I would make a great one!"

With a smile on her face the red headed girl interrupted. "Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each so-"

Jaune gave her the trademark Arc grin and waltzed up to her, "well then, maybe you, me and Snow Angel over there can become a team. Jaune Arc." He said as he held out his hand. Weiss frowned.

"Do you not know who she is?" Jaune took up a thinking pose for a moment.

"Other than a beautiful girl, not a clue."

"This is Pyrrha."

"Hi" waved the Spartan girl.

"Pyrrha, graduated top of her class at Sanctum."  
Jaune gave her a blank stare. He never noticed it before but when the light shines off her tiara it gives he an incredibly adorable visage. Shaking the strange thoughts from his head Jaune listened.

"She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row! A new record!" She screamed, waving her arms wildly for effect.  
Jaune just continued to give her a blank stare, this time getting lost in her eyes. They were an amazing shade of blue, and the scar, although barely visible, helped accentuate the colour. It almost made him want to stroke it- _What is happening!?_ He yelled in his head.

None of the two girls noticed Jaune pulling his hear out as Weiss groaned, "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

Jaune gasped dramatically.

"That's you?" He pointed at her disbelievingly. "But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

Pyrrha smirked. _He's the one_, she thought to herself. Jaune sighed dejectedly and looked at the ground sadly. _The cereal box never lies, I'm definitely out of her league_.

Weiss, in the meantime, was outright shocked. "_That's_ what you recognise?" she shouted, immensely aggravated. How did he not realise who she was, did he live under a rock? Throwing her hands up in defeat she stormed off. "I give up. Pyrrha let's go."  
Pyrrha smiled warmly at Jaune, "nice meeting you!" She hummed happily as she followed the heiress, a skip in her step.

Jaune sighed and slumped against a locker. "Likewise."

"Having girl problems lady-killer?" Grinned Yang. Looking around Jaune noticed Ruby hiding behind his fellow blond.

"Yo." She waved.

Jaune sighed. "I don't understand, my dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?" He banged his head against the locker.

Ruby got out from behind Yang and helped him up. "I'd say you've been doing very well so far." She mumbled inaudibly. Jaune tilted his head to the side.

"Did you say something Ruby?" The reaper stiffened and blushed before vehemently denying.

Yang grinned, "I'd say 'Snow Angel', as you put it, wasn't exactly the best person to try that on. But hey, plenty more fish in the sea. Except Ruby, she's off limits."

"Yaaaaang," Pouted Ruby. She couldn't do that. Ruby was already a big girl she drank milk!

Jaune chuckled at their antics. Looking at the two sisters closely, they were both very attractive in their own right. Yang had beautiful, bright, golden hair, amazing lilac eyes and it also helped that she was filled out quite nicely.

On the other hand, Ruby was incredibly adorable. The short dark red hair, the large silver eyes and her cute quirks all attributed to her endearing image. Jaune blinked. Where was this all coming from? This didn't happen before. "What about you Yang?" he spoke aloud. Realising his mistake he blushed, but before he could remedy his blunder Yang winked at him.

"Why don't you try and find out?" Jaune, hating himself on the inside for this, decided he might as well keep going.

"Is that an offer?" he grinned. _Stop please_. He groaned mentally. Yang however was surprised by the fact that he flirted back, she didn't think that _Jaune_ of all people would flirt back.

Ruby glared at Yang, embarrassed by her behaviour. She liked it better when her sister hated Jaune. "Yaaaaaang!" she whined. After a moment all three laughed for a while.

The three students nearly jumped when they heard a speaker crackle to life. "Can all first years please report to the Beacon Cliff please." The voice was soft yet strict. Ruby listened to the voice closely.

"Hey, that's Glynda Goodwitch." She commented. Yang and Jaune looked at her confused,

"Who?" They asked simultaneously.

Ruby rolled her eyes, "The lady in the hologram on the airship, you were there when she introduced herself to everyone Yang!" The blond bombshell laughed nervously.

"Don't we need to head to the cliffs now?" she asked trying to change the subject.

Jaune sighed, "I still need to grab my things, I'll meet you two there." The sisters nodded and headed out of the locker room. Jaune gazed around the empty room. "Now. Where is my locker?" He asked to no one in particular. Turning around he saw that the locker he slumped against was in fact his. _Well that's convenient_. Grabbing his things and getting ready the knight headed out of the room, "As long as we're not doing some form of written test I'm happy with anything."

* * *

Jaune gulped as he looked down from what appeared to be a several hundred-meter drop. "Honestly, would've preferred a written test over… this." He whispered to himself. The woman from the airship stepped forward and gave a stern look to the students.

"Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… _Today_." She paused and turned to Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon. In reality though, she was just trying to hide her satisfied smirk from the groans coming from the hunters and huntresses in training. This time Ozpin stepped forward.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you can work well."

Jaune frowned at this, whom would he work well with? Ruby? Yang? Blake? Pyrrha? Wei- he stifled a laugh. As if he could work well with Weiss, the girl seems to hate his guts. Granted it was probably his fault, but he couldn't help it if she disliked his nickname for her.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Jaune nearly choked, doesn't that go against his previous statement of trying to pair with someone good. He turned to the others to see that Ruby looked like her world had been turned upside down.

"After you've been partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you _will_ die."  
The knight laughed nervously. _Great, just great_, he gulped.  
"You will be monitored and graded throughout the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must chose one and return to the top of the cliff."

_Well this is going to end well_. Looking over at the headmaster Jaune spoke, "do we at least get a parachute or a pillow?" He asked, "… or a will?" Ozpin stared at him with a blank expression. Sipping his coffee he smirked.

"No." And with that, Jaune found himself in the air.

He swore in multiple languages as he spun through the sky. Glynda frowned at the young man, "Mr Arc certainly has a _colourful_ language." She commented.

Meanwhile Jaune was tumbling uncontrollably. "I just _had_ to say anything but a written test." He cried to himself as he reached the apex of his flight.

* * *

**And there we go folks! That was it. Honestly was planning to have this out a while ago but complications arose. Either way, it's out now and I'm happy.**

**Nothing really to say except I hope you all enjoyed this and are excited about the next chapter.**

**On another note, this was a lot more words than I had originally thought it would be, and it goes very quickly. Should probably remedy that.**

**Anyone who can guess all the references to things gets a free cookie to feed to your nearest Ruby.**


	2. Chapter 2- Teammates

**And I'm back! But man did you guys like the story; I was taken aback by the amount of favourites and follows I got. I was honestly surprised by the amount of people who enjoyed it. So, thank you all for liking my story I guess. So, uh, in response to the people nice enough to leave a review:**

**lukefang: **About the future guesses, you'll see eventually if you were right or wrong. Also yes, Jaune's weapon is Crocea Mors, there just wasn't any area for him to use it or take it out because his time with Ruby was interrupted.

**Guest: **Thanks for the praise! About the suggestions, I already have ideas for a few of the females, but I'm not adding every single female to Jaune's romantic situation. I will say that there will be several moments with at least four of the characters you named.

**Nutshop: **Your review pleases me! :P

**Ranger Station Charlie: **Glad I could make you laugh and, as you can see, this is something I will continue.

**chronotimeguard: **Awesome, guess I'll keep writing like this then!

**Keybladeknight39: **You'll see whether your feeling is correct or not later in the story.

**A Friend (Guest):** Okay, 3 things. 1. I'm sorry that you have no Ruby near you.  
2\. I can't speak for other authors, but I plan the beginning then how it will end, otherwise I'll never manage to finish it. Then I make it up as I go until I reach that end.  
3\. I'm flattered you think I'm a good author but really, I'm not. If you want to read the work of a good author (At least RWBY authors) read Weiss Reacts by ElfCollaborator or Auburn by Super Saiyan Cyndaquil. There are plenty of other stories you can look over, just not mine at the moment, as I am a novice writer.

**Guest:** I guess by 'full harem' you either mean an actual 'multiple girls share Jaune' situation. I'm not going to be doing this as it's unrealistic and doesn't suit this story, I may do it in a future story but not this one. As for the second request: no, this is non-negotiable. Jaune has very little fighting experience prior and will, at first, be bad at fighting. He will, however, be an incredible strategist because of a particular ability that has already been foreshadowed.

**The95will:** Thank you! You have no idea how happy I am that someone gave me constructive criticism. This is my first story I've ever written (outside of required writing such as previous school assignments). I'm glad that someone told me what I did well and what I could work on. Thank you kind sir for your feedback, I will try my best to keep it in mind as I write this chapter.

**Well that's all of them, unless I somehow managed to miss one. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or anything mentioned or referenced in the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 2- Teammates

Jaune groaned as he flew through the air at a rapid pace. He felt his stomach churn as his face turned a similar shade to the green forest below him. He watched as the heavens and earth spun around him at a surreal velocity. "I'm seriously getting motion sick from _this?_" he cried in disbelief as he soared over the trees, nearly losing his breakfast in the process.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Jaune slowly steadied himself in mid-air and managed to get up after a few minutes of hard work. The motion sick knight stared in silent confusion as an unknown object hurtled towards him at an alarming rate. Looking closely at the object he realised that it was, in fact, the ground. Sighing in reluctant acceptance, Jaune braced for the impact. "This is going to hurt like a bi-"

The ground in the surrounding area shook intensely for a moment, garnering differing reaction from those around to hear it. Ozpin took another sip from his mug. A pleased smirk was placed squarely on his face as he watched the blond knight finish his flight. "That'll teach him to fall asleep during one of my speeches," he chuckled.  
Taking yet another glorious sip from his mug Ozpin walked back to the building. Behind the headmaster, Glynda sighed and shook her head amused. Looking out as the students finished their few minutes of flight, the witch followed Ozpin. The man hasn't changed one bit.

The hunters and huntresses-to-be around the area cringed at the sound of Jaune's unfortunate emergency landing. "Oh, I hope he's okay," muttered Pyrrha worriedly. She had watched the entire display from afar, but had encountered an Ursa before she could assist him. Frowning at the remains of her attacker the Spartan girl set off from the clearing she had landed in to find her future hus- the blond knight. Nodding to herself, she set out to find Jaune before something bad happened to him. Avoiding the occasional tree in her way Pyrrha eventually happened upon a clearing. "Oh dear." She gasped.

* * *

Ruby, in the meantime, was searching desperately for someone she knew. "Yaaaang!" She called, "Jaauune!" Crescent Rose was unfolded and ready for action in her hands. The large, deadly scythe contrasted her otherwise adorable look of worry as she continued on her quest. The young reaper groaned as she sped passed several clearings and many large trees, there was still no sign of either of the two blonds.

Getting frustrated Ruby decided to vent her anger. "Screw _this_ tree in particular!" she growled, slicing a large chunk of a single tree. Feeling her frustrations slowly leave upon swinging her baby Ruby sighed, "Where could they be?" Before she could continue she heard a loud impact. The girl turned to the source of the noise and watched as the trees shook wildly, disturbed by the sonic boom. Ruby cheered, it was most likely Jaune landing. Either that or something was stupid enough to damage Yang's hair. Either way, the girl was set. She just needed to head in the general direction of the sound and would either find her ticked off sister or her unconscious friend. However, before the girl could begin her search she ran headfirst into the snow princess herself.

* * *

Jaune frowned as he stood up and dusted himself off, seemingly unfazed by the whole ordeal. Looking around he realised he had created a large Jaune-shaped crater in the forest and made note to apologize to Ozpin some time.

Y'know, if he made it out of there alive.

Blinking rapidly for a second Jaune realised something else, "Well. This is a thing." Several Beowolves who had most likely been attracted by the noise of his emergency landing currently surrounded the blond boy.

As he slowly unsheathed his sword Crocea Mors and expanded his sheath into a shield he hoped that something other than Grimm had been attracted by the sound of his impact, preferably someone like Ruby or Pyrrha who were prodigies in their own right. They could take on these many Beowolves alone, that much he was sure of. Or maybe Yang might've heard the crash. Then again, he probably wouldn't survive being partners with her.

He didn't have anything against the buxom boxer, but she seemed to not have the ability to hold herself back. It was either nice Yang, the flirty, happy girl who was nice to hang with, or angry Yang, the girl who popped up whenever something happened to Ruby.

Sighing to himself, Jaune turned to face his enemies.  
Steadying a pathetic stance and raising his sword before him rather than his shield Jaune felt every muscle in his body twitch. "Goood Beowolves~" he cooed. "Niiice Beowolves~ who's a good being of pure evil and destruction? You are, yes you are!" Jaune may have seemed calm on the outside. However, on the inside Jaune was crying and mentally writing his will._ I leave all my belongings to my family… That's it really. _

Three of the Grimm pounced at once, whether it was because of his patronising of them or because it was in their nature to attack didn't matter. They were decapitated almost instantly by several well-timed sword strikes.

"Hey Pyrrha, guess you're my partner," grinned Jaune.

The red headed girl returned his smile with her own, "I suppose so," she replied. Getting into a steadier stance the champion shield bashed a Beowolf with Akoúo̱ and cut it in half whilst it was recovering from the blow. She quickly converted Miló to its rifle form and sent six well-placed shots to kill two more Grimm behind the two. Jaune watched in awe as Pyrrha ducked under a swipe from the last enemy and converted Miló to its sword form once more and decapitated the Beowolf.

"Wow." Jaune commented, the spectacle had left him breathless. "That was amazing!" he applauded.

"Thanks, but it wasn't really _that_ amazing." Pyrrha smiled bashfully. Jaune disregarded that and pat her on the back.  
"Stop being so modest, it was awesome!" Meanwhile Jaune laughed maniacally in his head. _Cereal box, you haven't failed me yet!_ He now owed his life to the cereal box who had sent a champion to save him. Once he got out of this thrice-damned forest he'd buy as many boxes of that cereal he could get his hands on.

The two rested for a bit and, after gathering their bearings, left the crash site to find what they had come for.

* * *

Blake looked on in annoyance at her partner. She gave her a strained grin, "So… how is the book, _partner?_" she asked, her voice barely containing the venom leaking from her mouth. Yang grinned next to her. The brawler's eyes were glued to the book. Not taking her eyes off the book she answered, narrowly avoiding a tree in the process.

"It's great! Especially this part where Lily…" She cut off snickering, obviously finding a part she enjoyed. Blake however glared at her blond partner, her right eye twitching uncontrollably. Her hands clenched audibly as she slowly counted to ten.

"Are you going to be giving it back any time soon?"

"Nope~" The introvert sighed; this was going to be a _really_ long walk.

Several minutes had passed with no word from either of the two beauties and it somehow felt… wrong, to Blake. "Yang?"

"Yes Blake? ~" The introvert's eye twitched once more.

"Can I have my book back _please_?"

Yang gave her a challenging grin, "You mean your _art_?" Blake felt a sense of accomplishment in finally managing to separate the blond's eyes from the book. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. I'd just like to have it back now." Yang pouted before wordlessly handing over the book of smu- _art_ to Blake. Blake took one look at the book and sighed, "I'm not even going to ask why some corners are folded."

Yang's eyes twinkled as she responded. "It's for research!" She exclaimed passionately. A single standing strand of her hair waggled happily as she proclaimed it proudly to the world.

* * *

Weiss had no clue what had happened. One moment she was striding through the forest, enjoying the scenery whilst searching for Pyrrha. Next she found herself suspended what could be thousands of feet above the ground by a Nevermore. To make things even more confusing, said Nevermore was currently being straddled by one Ruby Rose.  
"What the dust are you doing?" Exclaimed Weiss from the Nevermore's talon.

Ruby rolled her eyes as if the answer was obvious. "I'm riding a Nevermore Weiss, what does it look like? Geez, for a princess you aren't that smart are you?" Weiss clenched her fists, the heiress had a sudden urge to test whether or not a fall from this height would kill her.

She blinked in confusion. All of a sudden she felt weightless as if she were-

"KYAAAA~" squealed Weiss uncharacteristically as she fell into the forest below.

"Weiss no!" cried Ruby as she watched her new partner fall. "I have to save her!" Striking a pose, the young rose swan dived off the Nevermore with Crescent Rose in tow. The large bird Grimm screeched in disapproval, watching the two plummet.

* * *

"Jaune I don't think this is the place." Mumbled Pyrrha uncertainly. The two had managed to find themselves in a pitch-black cave. Jaune gave her a look.  
"Pyrrha, I _just_ made this torch. Can't you just humour me for a few minutes?"

True to his words, a handmade torch was in his sword hand. Giggling to herself Pyrrha decided to let the blond knight have his fun. Jaune grinned; he was finally being of use to someone. The two walked through the cave in search of what they were supposed to find.  
Pyrrha blushed heavily while she stared at the knight; the happy look on Jaune's face was bright enough to light the whole cave and then some. The fact that the blond didn't know who she was felt refreshing. She had to admit, this was one of the reasons why she had wanted to become partners with him. It was selfish, but as someone who had to deal with thousands of fans whenever she left home, she was allowed to be a little selfish sometimes. Right?

On the other hand, Jaune was uncomfortable with the silence. _Is she mad that she was partnered with me instead of Weiss?_ He thought to himself. Making another mental note to ask her about that later he focused on finding the relic. As long as they had the light of the torch they would be fine.

Jaune hit himself in the face. Now that he's said that something's bound to go wrong, it's the law of- "Jaune stop!" whispered Pyrrha hurriedly. The boy turned to her to check what was wrong. Unfortunately because of this he stopped too late and stumbled over a rock, dropping the torch in a puddle that was conveniently the right size.

Jaune sighed, well he saw that one coming. Turning to where he last heard Pyrrha Jaune laughed nervously. "Now what?" he asked her. Pyrrha looked to the source of his voice,  
"Just slowly step away from that spot," she whispered.

Jaune nodded and walked backwards, "Why are you whispering?" he queried.

"Because there's a really large sleeping Deathstalker in front of you." The novice stiffened mid-step, making an effort to not move any muscles whatsoever. He could even feel his heart stop. _Ok maybe that's exaggerating a bit._ "Jaune, be careful. You never know what might happen in the dark."

Nodding despite the fact that Pyrrha wouldn't be able to tell, Jaune turned around and walked to where he assumed the exit to the cave was. They had only been walking for a minute, so the two of them couldn't have been _that_ deep in the cave.

"Pyrrha you there?" He whispered. Straining his ears to hear something he heard a rustling to his left as something placed itself into his hand. He blushed, was that Pyrrha? Why was she holding his hand? "P-Pyrrha what are you-?"

"Jaune, that isn't me!" Pyrrha screeched from his right. Jaune blinked, his right? Wasn't she holding his left hand? Slowly turning his head he realises that a Deathstalker claw was lodged firmly between his fingers and palm. Suppressing a yelp, he slowly brought the claw to the ground. It wasn't just one Deathstalker, it was a whole nest of Deathstalkers. Stepping away from the group of sleeping Deathstalkers Jaune had to suppress another girly squeal as he bumped into something behind him. "Don't worry Jaune it's me."

Jaune glared at her. "Don't scare me like that Pyrrha!" he snapped. The blond knight winced as his voice carried through the cavern, bright red eyes opened up as the voice flew over them. "For the record, I am extremely sorry." He spoke calmly.

Pyrrha smiled kindly at him as the red light of the Grimm's eyes illuminated the cave. "Don't worry Jaune, everyone makes mistakes. We should probably start running now."

Jaune nodded, grateful that he had such a nice partner. "Sounds like a plan." And with their plan set, the two ran.

* * *

"Well we managed to lose all the Deathstalkers but one." Commented the knight as they approached the exit. The light at the end of the tunnel was approaching rapidly. Unfortunately so was the enemy.

Pyrrha looked at him in disbelief, however upon glancing back she saw that he was in fact correct. There was now only one Deathstalker still following them. This one was larger than the rest and had tell-tale signs of age on it; harder looking armour, plants growing on it and the armour had battle scars.  
"How did we manage to lose them? The cave didn't have any forks or turns."

Jaune shrugged, he didn't know how Grimm worked so there was no way he would be able to answer her question. Pyrrha warned him to be careful; a missing enemy was a dangerous enemy.

As they exited the cave they entered an empty clearing. "Alright, we need to take this one down before the other Grimm appear." Jaune gulped. This would be his first fight with a Grimm where _he_ would actually be fighting. Once the two reached the edge of the tree line they pivoted on the spot and got ready to face the veteran Deathstalker. Pyrrha got out Miló and Akoúo whilst Jaune unsheathed Crocea Mors and expanded the sheath, the two taking their stances. "Uh, Jaune?"  
"Yes Pyrrha?"

"Put your shield in front of you and stay a little lower to the ground." Jaune blushed in embarrassment, hopefully she didn't realise he had next to no clue of how to fight. The knight managed to correct his stance just in time to see the Deathstalker swing a claw at him. Barely stopping a girly scream from escaping his throat Jaune ducked. He watched as Pyrrha expertly flipped over the claw and land a few slashes onto it, then spinning to block the second claw with Akoúo̱. The champion then managed to score a few cuts to the face in rapid succession before jumping backwards to avoid the claws once more. He sighed, there was no way he'd ever be as good as Pyrrha. Standing up Jaune got ready for the next swipe.

The knight laughed as he managed to block a weak swipe and duck under a second; maybe he wasn't so hopeless after all? Smiling he then thought up a plan, "Pyrrha, I have an idea!" He shouted excitedly to her. The girl nodded to him, too busy to properly respond, "one of us needs to parry the blows to create an opening for the other to attack!"

"Ok, I'll parry and you attack." She responded. As the Deathstalker went for another swipe with it's claw she blocked the attack with Akoúo̱ and knocked away the other claw before parrying the stinger. "Switch!"

Nodding Jaune went for a horizontal slash to the scorpion Grimm's face. Unfortunately his lack of experience made the swing fall short; and because he overextended his arm he lost his balance. "Pyrrha look out!" he shouted as he fell onto her. She gasped as he inadvertently knocked her out of the way of the stinger, barely missing getting hit himself.

"Jaune are you okay?" she asked worriedly.  
"Just, fine" he responded between gasps for air. The fall had knocked the wind out of his lungs. Realising that Jaune had basically risked his life to save her she blushed.  
"Th-thanks for, um, knocking me out of the way." She stammered. _What's happening?_ She thought to herself_ why am I suddenly so nervous?_

Jaune, however, was confused. Turning around he realised his blunder had just saved Pyrrha's life as the stinger was lodged into her previous position. He was prevented from telling her it was an accident by a shout coming from above. His eyes shone briefly as he gasped. The blond held out his arms as if on instinct, managing to catch Weiss just in time as she fell out of the sky into his hands.

Grinning goofily he looked at her, "did it hurt when you-" before he could finish his line the two were knocked a few meters away by the Deathstalker.

"Jaune! Weiss!" cried Pyrrha.

Jaune frowned; there went another wasted opportunity. Why wouldn't people just let him pretend to be a main character for once? His eyes flashing once more; he sighed. "Hopefully this will go better." Holding his hands out again (After making sure the Deathstalker was nowhere near him) Ruby fell into his arms with a cute gasp.  
"Heya Vomit Boy!" she cheered, "thanks for the save!" Jaune smiled back,  
"No problem. But you're not really safe right know." As if to prove his point, both Pyrrha and Weiss were tossed in front of them, courtesy of the aged Deathstalker.

"Hey guys!" Waved Yang as she nonchalantly waltzed into the fray. Blake was behind her skipping happily as she hugged her book. Before anyone could comment an Ursa crashed through into the clearing, a girl riding on it's back.

She frowned as it stopped moving. "Aww, it's broken." She pouted.

"Nora, you need to be more careful." Spoke a voice next to Jaune calmly. The group jumped in astonishment, when had _he _gotten there?

"Pancake123, I told you. My code name is Supreme Sloth Overlord, The Great and Powerful Ruler of all Sloth Kind and Devourer of Pancakes!" She scolded him. The boy smiled.

"Of course, I'm sorry for my foolishness." The girl sighed,  
"Geez Pancake123, how are we supposed to be able to stay together if you can't remember out code names! Well, not together-together. But together!"

The rest of the group was speechless, just who was this girl? After a few moments of silence the boy spoke up, outstretching his hand to the group. "My name's Ren, and this here is my partner Nora." The mentioned girl giggled as she moved her arm slowly up and down.  
"Mroawr" she moaned. Jaune blinked, _was she trying to imitate an animal?_ He thought to himself.

Shaking his head he grasped Ren's hand firmly and shook. "Nice to meet you Ren and Supreme Sloth Overlord, The Great and Powerful Ruler of all Sloth Kind and Devourer of Pancakes. The name's Jaune, Jaune Arc." He grinned,  
"Over there is my partner Pyrrha." He ignored a growl from Weiss, "then it's Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Blake." He pointed to each of the girls as he called out their name respectively. Ren and Nora smiled at the group.

"Nice to meet you Jaune-Jaune Arc and partner!" cheered Nora. She turned to the girls next. "Nice to meet you too Red riding hood, Ice Queen, Fanservice and… Blake!" The heiress glared at the exuberant girl.

"Why does Blake not have a nickname?" she snapped.

Nora shrugged, "it's hard to think up a name for her." Jaune chuckled,  
"I think the names suit them all." Ren nodded in agreement.

"Now that we've exchanged pleasantries, the gangs all here. Now we can all die together!" cheered Yang sarcastically. Blake's bow twitched.  
"Everyone move!" She warned to the group hurriedly. Everyone but Jaune leaped from his or her spot, leaving him alone to be launched into the forest by the forgotten Deathstalker's claw.

"Jaune/Vomit Boy!" cried Pyrrha, Ruby and Yang simultaneously. The three girls attempted to rush over to where the poor boy had been launched, only to be forced to jump back as a Nevermore swooped them.

The girls readied their weapons as they waited for the bird Grimm to swoop once more. The girls' eyes widened when instead of swooping the Grimm launched it's feathers at them. "Run!" shouted Ruby, choosing to ignore the fact that Ruby pointed out the obvious Yang and Pyrrha rolled out of the way. The Nevermore cawed and swooped while the girls recovered; unfortunately for the Grimm they were ready for this. Yang grabbed her sister and launched her at the flying Grimm at a rapid speed.

"Now Ruby!" she shouted. The airborne rose nodded and performed a spin manoeuvre to gain momentum before striking the black bird dead on.

Pyrrha smirked as she aimed Miló in its rifle form. The Spartan girl fired two rounds at the falling bird, each hitting their mark and paralysing the wings for a moment. This moment was enough for Pyrrha and Yang to be able to dash close enough to execute a few heavy combination attacks before leaping out of the way for Ruby. The girl landed the finishing blow to the Nevermore from the sky by using gravity to increase the force behind Crescent Rose, nailing the bird in the head and effectively cracking it's skull.

The girls wiped the sweat and dirt off their faces and high-fived. "We did it!" Cheered Ruby. The three congratulated and complimented each other as they rested; smiling the entire time.  
"Wait, what about Jaune?" noted Pyrrha. The three paled as they realised that they had forgotten about the blond knight. After tripping over themselves for a few minutes the girls crashed through the bush in Jaune's general direction.

"Jaune if you die I'm going to kill you!" cried Ruby as she quickly got up. Patting off the dirt from her battle skirt she continued her search for the boy. He was her first friend here at Beacon; there was no way she'd let a friend die on her. Besides, he _still _hasn't shown her his weapon. He wasn't allowed to die before she could see it. Nodding to each other, Yang and Pyrrha split up to find the knight.

After minutes of searching Ruby heard a girly scream from behind a bush. "Jaune is that you?" she slowly approached the source of the noise.  
"Kyaaa!"

* * *

Meanwhile Nora, Ren and Blake were pelting the Deathstalker with their respective weapons. "Just how tough is its armour?" Growled Blake as she action rolled under another swipe. Gambol Shroud wasn't making a single dent in the scorpion Grimm's armour. Weiss frowned; she couldn't find any openings for her to strike at a weak point with Myrtenaster. They were distracted from their fight when they heard a scream come from the forest.

"That was Red riding hood!" Gasped Nora. Weiss glared in the direction of the scream,

"I swear, if someone or something hurt _my_ Ruby." Ren and Blake would've commented if it weren't for the fact that their friend was in trouble. The four dashed off in hopes that the hooded girl was okay, leaving an incredibly ticked off and confused Deathstalker.

"Ruby are you okay?" All four shouted out worriedly as they ran into the clearing they heard the scream from. Upon stopping the four were treated to a very odd scene. Any description wouldn't do the scene justice, so this was the best they could come up with.

Jaune was laying face down, seemingly unconscious with a rather large bump on his head, in the middle of a smoking crater.

Ruby was off to the left of the clearing, holding her mouth with an embarrassed expression. Her face matched the colour of her name.

Yang was sporting the biggest tick mark imaginable and cracking her knuckles in the direction of the middle of the crater. One of her gauntlets was still smoking.

Pyrrha was also blushing a shade lighter than Ruby. Miló in its spear form impaled a tree directly behind Jaune. Lastly, stuck between the tree and the spear was Jaune's pants.

"I… I don't even want to know what transpired here." Sighed Weiss. The other three nodded slowly, still trying to process the image. Even _Nora_ was silent and confused.

Jaune suddenly got up, seemingly unfazed by the fact he was unconscious in a crater seconds ago. "To sum it up, I was hung by the hood on a tree about to get mauled by a Beowolf when I made a manly squeal, then Pyrrha stumbled upon the scene and, in an attempt save me, threw her spear at the Grimm. Unfortunately, my manly squeal alerted Ruby whose call for me then alerted the Beowolf. The Grimm then ran away believing it was surrounded, causing Pyrrha's spear to narrowly miss Jaune Jr. and send my pants flying into that tree." He paused to take a breath of air. Blake, Ren and Nora nodded along intrigued by his tale. _Why does his way of storytelling sound familiar?_ Wondered Blake. The knight continued. "After that I fell from the tree, my hood finally ripping. And like any man I crumpled to the floor still in shock from nearly losing something dear to me-"

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha cried. She was immediately shushed by Nora who then gestured for Jaune to continue.

"I apparently landed in a very compromising position as Ruby walked in and screamed as she blushed a shade of red similar to her name. This then caused Yang to rush in, take one look at the situation and uppercut-jab-combo me into unconsciousness. Also, this didn't use to be a clearing."

Before anyone could make a comment Yang punched the poor boy back into the crater. "How did you get back up, I thought you were unconscious?" she growled. Blake sighed at Yang and gave her a smirk,

"Yang, you've done it wrong. You're supposed to add a touch of impossibility with your punch line." She then brought out a paper fan from… somewhere, and proceeded to smack Jaune upside the head.

Nora giggled, "That looks fun!" she exclaimed as she skipped up to Jaune's beat up body and proceeded to hammer him with Magnhild.

"Why me?" groaned Jaune as he slowly crawled out of the crater, beaten and still pants less.

Weiss frowned as she looked at the edge of the clearing. "I think we may have a problem." The group turned to see that the veteran Deathstalker had caught up, and brought some friends. "Who was airheaded enough to disturb a Deathstalker nest?" she growled, it was Grimm 101 to never disturb any Grimm because they just might have buddies.

Jaune laughed, "Y-yeah, who w-was dumb enough to do that?" he stammered. Pyrrha laughed nervously with him, running quickly to grab her spear.  
"It definitely wasn't me." She smiled. "Does anyone have a plan?"

"RUN!" squealed Ruby. Needless to say, the group ran.

* * *

Ren paled as a Deathstalker stinger missed his head by a millimetre. He could feel the air get displaced next to him. "Got any ideas?" he asked. Behind the group the Deathstalkers were scuttling over each other to land a hit. Jaune focused and frowned as his eyes glowed once more, this time for a couple of seconds rather than a fraction of one.

"I have one, but it'll be risky." He stated grimly.

"What is it?" asked Weiss.

Yang looked at the two in shock, "We really are going to die if Weiss is asking Vomit Boy of all people for a plan," she commented. Jaune gave her a glare, along with Ruby secretly.

"I take offence to that!"

Yang glared back, "you were supposed to!" Weiss groaned.

"I know you two have been fighting recently, over completely pointless reasons mind you, but right now we have to set that aside or we _will_ die!"

Yang pouted, "I know I'm a pervert, and proud, but that doesn't mean I want my cute little sister to be. And thanks to pantsless-McGee over here, she's been robbed of her innocence."

"It wasn't my fault!" cried Jaune.

"Seriously you two, stop." Growled Weiss. "What is this plan of yours Jaune?"

"Yeah, we're running out of forest," commented Blake from behind Ruby. The group hadn't even made it to their original destination yet, which was the goal of the whole expedition in the first place.

"Well first of all we need to get our bearings. Nora, can you use your hammer to launch off Pyrrha's shield in order to get above the trees?"

"Of course I can Jaune-Jaune Arc!" the Valkyrie saluted.

"Great, will you be able to handle it Pyrrha?"

The red headed girl smirked,

"I wasn't the Mistral Region Tournament champion four years in a row for no reason,"

"Okay, on my signal do it. One, two, three, NOW!" He yelled just as they came across a large clearing. Nora giggled as she ran up to Pyrrha who got her shield ready, and with a loud bang the ever-happy girl was sent skywards.

"There's ruins over that way," she shouted as she sailed on Magnhild through the air. She pointed slightly to the right of the group.  
"Okay, before we change course I want both Ruby and Blake to take out the trees on either of our sides in order to block our path behind us as they fall." Jaune commanded. "Then Ren, Yang I want you two to provide cover fire for them." With their orders given the four moved to complete their tasks. As they approached the end of the clearing Ruby and Blake used their weapons to cut down the trees while Ren and Yang fired pot shots at the Grimm.

Once they passed the perimeter of the clearing the reaper and book girl both continued to cut down trees as Nora took out the remaining chunks of tree so that they would fall. "Timber!" Cheered Nora and Ruby childishly as a couple dozen trees fell, stopping the advancing Deathstalkers and crushing a few unlucky ones.  
Jaune nodded, "Now Weiss can you use your glyphs to increase our speed to ensure our getaway?"

The heiress sighed,

"No unfortunately, I'm still exhausted from fighting the larger Deathstalker earlier, and all this running is not helping."

Jaune grinned, "Want me to carry you?"  
She scoffed, "In your dreams"

"How about you Ruby?"

The girl pouted, "I can take care of myself, I don't need people to help me. I drink milk."

* * *

After a few more minutes of running, the group finally made it to the ruins Nora had spotted. "Well, that was a thing," Muttered Jaune; panting wildly. He really needed to get used to the whole running thing, this was the second time he's been winded in just as many days. Pyrrha smiled at him.  
"That was some great leadership and on the fly thinking Jaune." She complimented. The others nodded in agreement.

"It was awesome how you were giving orders left, right and centre." Giggled Ruby.

"It was indeed great leadership," nodded Ren.

Yang smiled, noticeably mellower than she was before. "You did good Vomit Boy, nearly made up for what happened back at the clearing. To be honest, you taking charge like that kinda turned-"

Weiss glared at her and Blake coughed. "A little too much information Yang, I liked you better when you hated his guts." Stated the white haired girl awkwardly; keeping the last part to herself. The aforementioned girl turned to Jaune, a frown set on her face. "What really intrigued me was that Jaune knew what my semblance was, yet I'm sure he has never seen it before."

The group looked in worry when Jaune suddenly flew into an abrupt coughing fit. The loud, harsh coughs forced the boy to stumble into the ruins. By complete accident of course, he definitely wasn't trying to avoid the implied question.

"Are these what we're looking for?" He asked innocently when he stood up fit as a fiddle in the middle of the ruins. The rest of the group got up from their resting spots and followed the knight into the destroyed building. Upon reaching the inside of the ancient structure the group were treated to a peculiar sight.

Before them laid several chess pieces on individual pedestals.

Nora's eyes sparkled with a childish gleam as she happened upon a piece. "Ooh!" She cooed. The girl giggled and picked up a golden rook, repeatedly singing: "I'm the queen of the castle~ I'm the queen of the castle~", putting the rook on her head as she danced happily.

The rest of the group watched in mixed amusement as the girl bounced around. "Ahem, Nora?" Coughed the silent male of the group.

"Yes Ren?"

"Are you done?"

The girl grinned and nodded. "Yes Ren."

The hunters and huntresses in training shared a laugh at the strange girl's antics.

After the moment passed Weiss spoke up. "I suppose we each take our own piece then." The rest of the group of eight shrugged and took their own piece, one to each pair. Jaune and Pyrrha grabbed another rook, Ruby and Weiss chose a golden horse while Yang and Blake picked up a similar piece.

The two red headed girls of the group stared at Jaune in confusion. "Jaune, how are you wearing pants again?" Asked Ruby curiously. The rest turned to see that Jaune was indeed wearing pants again despite the fact he had left them in a clearing, torn and lying next to a tree.

The boy laughed, "Well, I had spare."

Blake gave him a perplexed look, "And how did you manage to get changed so quickly?"

He laughed again, "Trust me, when you live with eight women you kind of learn how to get changed quickly in order to avoid accidents. It becomes second-nature after a while."

Ren shrugged, "Makes sense."

"So… Now what?" Asked Jaune awkwardly. It was strange. Normally by now something would be trying to kill him. Blake's bow twitched slightly.

"We need to go," she growled, "now!" The eight teens watched in horror as multiple Deathstalkers flooded out of the trees around them.  
Jaune resisted the urge to hit himself. The one time he finally caught a break he jinxes it. It was really hard to be him sometimes.

* * *

**And that is that. This was actually supposed to be one chapter that included the fight scene, but I added a bit too much during the draft-to-hard copy stage and it got split into two separate chapters.**

**Unfortunately for you guys, the next chapter may take longer to come out. I wont always be available to update every week, because surprisingly enough I have a life outside of fanfiction, but I will try to update as soon as I can. I will try my hardest to at least get one out once every two weeks, never more.**

**Well now that that's out of the way, I'd just like to once again thank you amazing readers for reading my story, and I hope you continue to read and enjoy it! Please favourite, follow and leave a review about what you liked, disliked and what I should work on!**

**Anyone who can guess all the references to things gets a blueberry frozen yoghurt to calm to your nearest Weiss.**


	3. Chapter 3- First Encounter

**Hello and welcome back to Jaune's Guilty Pleasure! Wow, just, wow. I did not realise how much you guys liked this story. We managed to break 100 Follows and are nearing 100 Favourites! So, thank you guys heaps. Really, thanks. You guys are awesome.  
****Also, I have a friend working on a cover image, so look forward to that I guess.**

**So, responding to reviews once more. Also, keep in mind some reviews may not be responded to via this chapter as I have either missed it, or responded with a Private Message.**

**Benthino: **Thanks for the praise. Don't worry Jaune will surpass anything I can throw at him. Maybe… Probably…

**chronotimeguard: **Have to admit; that first part made me laugh. It is very true.

**dracohalo117: **Thanks for the praise! Here's another chapter.

**NARUTOfan876: **Nice to see people are excited for another chapter.

**ZeroHuman:** Awesome, glad I could make you laugh. That is what the comedy aspect is for.

**Crazy TrollR49:** This made me laugh. Don't worry random just makes things interesting. Case and point; Nora.

**duskrider: **Thank you.

**A Friend (Guest): **Well, people enjoy different things and are entitled to their own opinion, so you enjoy what you like good sir!

**Guest:** Thanks. Just a question, what do you mean by triangle/rose arc? I know Rose Arc is a name for the JaunexRuby pairing, so what is the 'triangle' part for?

**RyoTheSaiyan: **Well, that hasn't been confirmed… You don't know if that concept is true… Shhhhhhhh…  
Also, happy you want more!

**Phew, now that that is done, on to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any mentioned franchises. These all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 3- First Encounter

Glynda frowned, "Our final pairs have grabbed the relics, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, And Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long." The witch spoke purposefully. Looking over at her scroll she gazed at the teams. "That poor Ren boy. I can't possibly imagine those two getting along. Still, he's probably better off than Miss Nikos. That Jaune fellow does not appear to be adequate for our school, just look at his battle stance. It was all off! Then there is that Ruby Rose. Who rides on a Nevermore? The girl is too young and has no sense of what Grimm can really do. Miss Schnee is also quite unlucky with her partner. Those two are not ready for this level of combat." She stated with finality.

Ozpin just gazed at her as he lazily took a sip from his mug. "I wouldn't underestimate the two just yet." He spoke cryptically and turned to look at his scroll.

* * *

Yang groaned in mild annoyance, "These things are persistent," she huffed. "Watch out!" she called as a Nevermore began to descend on the group. Learning his lesson from last time, Jaune managed to roll out of the way along with the others. Screeching its disapproval the Nevermore swooped once more.

"I thought we killed it!" shouted Ruby in disbelief.

Blake shook her head. "This is a different one," she stated matter-of-factly, "its twice the size of the one you three took out. Any ideas?"

"We need to get back to the cliff," replied Pyrrha. Jaune nodded,

"If we can make it back to the cliff we might be able to get away." The four pairs didn't have time to make another plan as they were attacked once again.

Weiss parried a swipe from a Deathstalker. It was noticeably smaller than the aged one and had less powerful armour. Taking this into account she pierced through it with a fire enhanced lunge. "These smaller Deathstalkers are much weaker than the Veteran." She called out. Ren clicked his teeth in annoyance as he analysed the juvenile Deathstalkers.

"If it weren't for the Nevermore's constant swooping; we would be able to take them out with relative ease. Especially as Jaune's earlier plan took out a large number of them." Despite the amount of scorpion Grimm flattened by the falling tree stunt, there were still plenty of them around. However Ren's statement rang true, if the Nevermore wasn't there, the eight of them would be able to take out all the younger Grimm before teaming together to take out the veteran one.

"Watch your back!" exclaimed Jaune as he blocked a swipe from a Deathstalker. These ones only reached his head; tail included. The heiress silently thanked the blond and got ready to attack the next one. Ruby gave her a surprisingly authoritative look.

"Weiss, can you carve a path through the Deathstalkers in the direction of the cliff using your Dust Rapier?" Inside, the Reaper was giddy. She finally got to see Jaune's weapon. Although it was a little plain, nothing could really beat the classics. A sword and shield can be very deadly if used correctly.

Weiss rolled her eyes, "Of course I can." Taking a stance she thrust Myrtenaster forwards, setting it to its ice dust mode.

The group watched in silent awe as ice sprouted from the ground in the direction she thrust in, impaling the juvenile Deathstalkers unfortunate enough to be above them.

Nora clapped happily as the ice shattered and left behind a sparkling effect, "It's so pretty!" she gasped.

Ren smiled at his childhood friend. "Let's go Nora." The boy in green abruptly stopped talking as Nora gave him a chilling glare, "Supreme Sloth Overlord, The Great and Powerful Ruler of all Sloth Kind and Devourer of Pancakes!" he quickly blurted out. "Hahaha… Who's Nora?" Ren chuckled nervously. Jaune grinned,

"Ren, you are so whi-" Next second he found himself hurtling through the air, passed the impaled Deathstalker corpses, and faceplanted into a tree.

Weiss rolled her eyes, "Don't just stand there, let's go!" Ruby nodded,

"She's right. C'mon, to the cliff!" she shouted dramatically, pointing at the cliff face in the distance. The group shouted their affirmations and ran past the swarming Deathstalkers, narrowly avoiding another attack from the Nevermore. Pyrrha peeled Jaune off the tree at the last second and dragged him behind her as they ran.

"Ruby watch out!" cried Yang. The young reaper turned just in time to narrowly avoid a Nevermore feather. However it impaled her cloak. Jaune watched in horror as the aged Deathstalker approached the girl. "Run Ruby!" her sister continued to yell.

"I'm trying!" Cried the reaper helplessly as she attempted to escape. It was to no avail as the veteran Deathstalker approached and got ready to stab the girl with it's stinger.

"Ruby!" shouted the two blonds.

"You are so childish." Ruby opened her eyes to see that a wall of ice had stopped the Deathstalker, also destroying the feather that impaled her coat in the process.

"Weiss?"

"And dim witted, and hyperactive and don't even get me started on your fighting style." She continued, "and I suppose, I can be a bit difficult at times. Though if we are going to get through her alive, we have to do it together. So, partner?" she smiled. Ruby grinned, the heiress' smile was slightly strained but it was still a smile.

"Partners." Their bonding moment was broken when Yang jumped in and hugged her sister.

"I'm so happy you're okay!"

"We need to go, that ice won't hold it back forever!" frowned Pyrrha.

* * *

The eight huntresses and huntsmen to be sprinted back to the cliff. "Just how many are there?" asked Pyrrha curiously. Their trek through the woods with a swarm of Deathstalkers and a Nevermore garnered the attention of more Deathstalkers and increased their numbers back to before Jaune's plan.

Yang looked back for a second to see the scorpion Grimm desperately crawling over each other in order to reach them. "You don't want to know," she laughed nervously. Blake raised a brow as she saw Ren smile.

"I have an idea!" he laughed triumphantly. Jaune watched in amazement and gawked when Ren pulled out a stupidly large barrel of maple syrup from his right sleeve.

The knight laughed hysterically. "Ren you genius!" He didn't want to know how or where the boy got it from, all that mattered was they'd be able to slow down the Grimm enough to get away.

"Where and how did you get that?" Weiss asked incredulously.

Nora pouted at her long-time friend. "But Reeeeeen~ we were going to use that for the pancake restaurant for the sloth enclosure!"

Ren looked uncertain as he looked between the sloth fanatic and the barrel. "But-"

"And I was going to make my special pancakes!" she added.

"…"

"Ren, don't you dare!" pleaded Jaune.

The boy smiled sadly, "Sorry man, but Supreme Sloth Overlord, The Great and Powerful Ruler of all Sloth Kind and Devourer of Pancakes has priority over friends. And what Supreme Sloth Overlord, The Great and Powerful Ruler of all Sloth Kind and Devourer of Pancakes wants, Supreme Sloth Overlord, The Great and Powerful Ruler of all Sloth Kind and Devourer of Pancakes gets."

Jaune sighed and nodded in understanding. His only male friend had a point.

"You're actually going with it?" Weiss called out disbelievingly. "Do you dunces have a death wish?" She just could not understand what brought them to the conclusion that they didn't need all the help they could get to escape their situation. Were they incompetent or just plain dolts?

Yang groaned as they approached the Beacon cliff. "We have to get there with several Deathstalkers and a Nevermore after our asses? Normally I'd love a challenge, but this is ridiculous!"

Upon nearing the cliff the group realised something important. It was probably something they should have thought of before getting to their destination.

"How in dust's name are we supposed to get up there?" Scowled Weiss. The group came to a halt in front of the ruins at the bottom of the cliff.

Jaune frowned as the bird Grimm landed on the top of the ruins, cawing menacingly at them. "Well now what?"

"Now, we fight." Growled Yang. Jaune held out a hand before she could run to it.

"Hold on." He said in a commanding tone. He analysed the area.

Before them was the cliffs and a Nevermore, the Nevermore was situated upon an old building that was suspended over a dust knows how many feet drop.

Behind them was a relatively small area surrounded by a few ruins, and knowing his luck the large group of Deathstalkers were going to be crashing out of the forest at any moment.

Nodding to himself he started. "Okay, Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha, since you have experience with a Nevermore you will retreat deeper into the ruins to fight it. Try to use the height of the ruins to your advantage."

Yang looked incredulously at him. "Are you kidding me? That thing is three times the size of the other one we fought!"

"Just make it work!" snapped the knight. Yang staggered back, dazed by the sudden shout, but quickly recovered and grinned.

"Seriously, you need to do that more. It's a really big turn-"

"Ren, since you and Blake are the fastest out of us left I need you two to distract the Deathstalkers, taking out some when you can, while I get an idea of their battle pattern. Nora, pelt them with some explosives. But be sparing, I don't know when we'll need a lot of them. If too many appear then we retreat to the ruins with the girls." He continued, ignoring Yang.

Nora saluted. "Okie dokie Jaune-Jaune Arc!"

Jaune turned his gaze towards the tree line. "Once the Grimm come out of the forest, get ready." He turned towards Ren, "Ren, a word of advice. If you feel like you're getting tired don't be afraid to tell us, we wouldn't want you fainting from exhaustion when we really need you." The boy nodded.

Once orders had been given the two groups got into their positions. Pyrrha however was feeling slightly sad. _I'm his partner, so why didn't he include me in his group?_ She wondered to herself. She shook the thoughts away. _It was the logical decision for his plan. What's wrong with me?_

Meanwhile, Jaune was sweating heavily. Hopefully his strategy would work. He already used up most of his aura secretly making sure no one was harmed earlier today, so he wasn't as energised as he would have liked. This meant that he could barely fight. Not that he could beforehand.

Blake's voice brought him out of his musings. "Here they come." She frowned.

As she finished her statement the horde of juvenile Deathstalkers erupted out of the forest. "Remember, try to stick to the plans but don't be afraid to shake it up a bit if you deem it necessary!" Jaune's voice was nearly drowned out by the oncoming swarm of Grimm, but they managed to hear him. Ruby's group headed towards the ruins whilst Jaune's group charged to intercept the scorpion Grimm.

The four sides clashed.

* * *

The team consisting of Pyrrha, Ruby, Yang and Weiss ran to the ruins like Jaune suggested. "So, how are we going to cage the birdie?" questioned Yang, getting Ember Celica ready.

Weiss frowned as she watched the bird Grimm fly around the ruins. "The real question is how are we going to lure it over here?" Yang grinned at Weiss.

"Oh, I have an idea~"

"…"

Weiss' eye twitched as she looked over her new attire. "I don't even want to know why you had this on you." Ruby and Pyrrha were trying to suppress their laughter at the heiress' costume. They were failing miserably mind you. The poor girl was standing on top of a ruined pillar.

Wearing a worm costume.

Ruby smiled at her, "Don't worry Weiss, you look adorable in a worm suit!" She called out.

"I will kill you all if you tell anyone about this!" growled Weiss. Yang brought out a camcorder out of her… somewhere.

"Yeah, yeah, now can you do a twirl?" Weiss twirled with elegance and grace befitting of a princess on top of the pillar. Ruby smiled triumphantly, _I knew she was a princess!_

"Wait, why am I listening to you?" the heiress cried, "and where did you get that camcorder from?" Yang grinned back.

"The same place I got that worm suit from."

Pyrrha watched in mixed amusement and worry as the Nevermore swooped and grabbed Weiss. "I don't know how that worked, but it did… Now what?"  
Yang shrugged.  
Ruby shrugged.

"What do you two dunces mean you don't know?" Weiss cried from the talons of the Nevermore. _Twice in one day!_ She mentally sighed.

Ruby brightened, "I have an idea!"

Weiss glared at the reaper as she brought out Crescent Rose. "Don't shoot it!" She yelled, "You might hit _me_!" Ignoring the worm heiress' protests Ruby fired... behind her. The force of the shot pushed the cute reaper forwards towards the Nevermore.

"I'll save you Weiss!" she yelled heroically. Using her momentum to her advantage Ruby swung her scythe until she was spinning rapidly in mid air.

She wasn't expecting the Nevermore to throw the hostage at her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaune was narrowly avoiding the small attacks coming from the Deathstalkers. Ren, Blake and Nora had managed to take out at least a sixth of them, but their numbers still appeared to be endless. Unfortunately, despite his clear warnings, Ren had exhausted himself too much and was too tired to run.

He frowned as he cut off the top of a juvenile Deathstalker's stinger. There was just no end to their numbers; it was like fighting a hydra. If you cut off one head two more replace it. He watched as Blake gracefully avoided a strike from a Deathstalker before taking out five in rapid succession. The girl had inhumane flexibility and agility, able to take out several Grimm in a row with relative ease. He envied her strength, all he had was his hand-me-down sword and shield and his semblance. There was no way he could take all these Grimm on his own. He'd quickly be overcome by the amount of smaller Grimm; he wouldn't even stand a chance against the Veteran Deathstalker.

"Jaune, what's the plan?" frowned Blake as she landed near him. Jaune turned to her, quickly hiding his true feelings on the situation.

"The best thing we can do right now is head to the ruins for a tactical retreat, hopefully the enclosed space will stem their advance." The smu- art lover nodded, it was a sound plan. Quickly dashing to the trigger happy Valkyrie Blake relayed the message.

"Okay!" she smiled. The girl scooped up her childhood friend in her arms and made a dash for the ruins, Jaune and Blake quickly following.

"Watch out!" cried Ruby. The group turned to see the reaper flying towards them, Weiss screaming behind her in a… Worm costume? Before the four could react the partners crashed into Blake, sending the three of them sprawling off the bridge.

"Blake, Ruby, Snow Angel!" exclaimed Jaune worriedly. His hand was outstretched over the edge of the bridge. His gaze widened when he heard a faint noise. "Guys?"

"CAW!" screeched the Nevermore as it crashed into the bridge, destroying it in the process, effectively sending the group flying.

From the ruins Yang and Pyrrha had watched the whole spectacle.  
"Ruby/Jaune!" they cried simultaneously. Quickly taking action, the two jumped off of their platform and landed on the broken remains of the bridge. They scanned the area below for any signs of the six people.

Yang was almost ready to cry when she ducked under a barrage of feathers. Pyrrha deflected each of the oversized feathers with ease as she glared at the Nevermore, when she was done with it, it won't need those feathers. She nearly paled in fear as Yang got up, a patch of her hair clenched in tightly in her hand.

She deadpanned, _maybe Yang's got this one._ Indeed the blond brawler did. If looks could kill, a description would do no justice to the horrible things the Grimm would experience. Her hair and Ruby were the two things Yang would not stand to see harmed. Therefore, the Nevermore that took both away from her would not live to see the next minute.

"Yang! We're okay!" shouted a voice from below. The two beauties looked below them to see their missing friends standing on floating white circles. Pyrrha watched them in interest; they resembled Weiss in a strange way. _Is this what Jaune meant by 'glyphs'?_ She wondered, recalling his previous statement in the forest. So like how she herself could control polarity, Weiss had her glyphs. The rest of the group slowly made their way back onto the broken bridge.

"Move!" cried Jaune as soon as they got back on the bridge, his eyes glowing as he pushed Blake, Ren and Nora out of the way. The boy was then sent skywards by the Nevermore. "Combat is just not my thing." He groaned.

Pyrrha held back a cry of worry and watched as he landed on the opposite side of the bridge. Where the swarm of Deathstalkers were waiting. "We need to get over there!" Nora nodded,

"On it!" Before anyone could ask what her plan was the Valkyrie launched Ren and Pyrrha to the other side, using part of the bridge as a catapult. She then proceeded to laugh maniacally as she launched herself using Magnhild towards them.

The second Nora landed on the bridge Jaune announced his master plan. "Run!" he shouted as the bridge began to break behind them. The four managed to take two steps before they encountered a juvenile Deathstalker. "Ignore it!" he shouted, he remembered his analogy of the Deathstalkers and a Hydra. _The best way to take one _out, he grinned as he looked at the aged Grimm. _Is to kill it by the body!_

"Focus on the Veteran!" Yelling a battle cry, the group charged past the smaller Grimm and attacked the large one. Pyrrha blocked a swipe from the scorpion and used the momentum to take out a juvenile Deathstalker. Jaune copied her and blocked a swipe from the right, allowing Pyrrha to score a hit on it. Ren then used his leftover energy to run in and launch off of Jaune's back to reach the stinger, much to the displeasure of the knight. "Nora, aim for the face!"

The sloth-loving girl grinned and attacked. The two sword and shield bearers jumped back as the Deathstalker blocked the attacks with it's claws. Jaune managed to stumble on a rock, but it gave him the angle to see an opening.

"Pyrrha!" The girl nodded and took the opportunity to throw Miló at it. Ren smiled as it nailed an eye. Unfortunately the pain caused it to fling him towards a pillar.

"Ren!" cried Nora. Pyrrha turned to Jaune in hopes of a plan.

"Jaune!" before she could ask he pointed towards the stinger, Ren's continuous shooting had loosened it. Leaving it without its main form of attack. "On it!" The champion threw Akoúo̱ towards the stinger, subtly manipulating its course with her semblance, and nailed a direct hit, dislodging the end. Jaune quickly rammed into the large Grimm with his shield, thankful that the other Deathstalkers were not engaging. He quickly caught the large stinger, nearly doubling over from its weight.

Ren came running behind the Grimm and leaped over it, shooting a few rounds into its face to daze it. "Nora, do what you did back in the forest and use Pyrrha's shield to get height. Ren, do you have it in you to daze it once more?"

The silent boy nodded whilst Nora saluted. "You got it boss!"

Ren sent another volley of shots into the Grimm's face while Pyrrha got into a sturdy stance.

"Now Nora!" she shouted. The Valkyrie smiled and laughed maniacally once more as she launched off of Akoúo̱ and flew above the group. Jaune called to her as she reached the apex of her ascent,

"Nora, spike it!" He shouted as he threw the stinger up. _This isn't volleyball!_ He mentally berated.

"Nora!" she began as she readied Magnhild. "Smash!" Jaune cheered as the stinger was sent straight into the Deathstalker's head. The smaller Deathstalkers, at seeing the strongest be defeated, chose that moment to regroup and retreat.

The knight grinned as he high-fived Ren, hugged Pyrrha, much to her embarrassment, and got tackled by a happy Nora.

"How did you know that they would run away after we took out the aged one?" queried Pyrrha curiously. On the inside she was grinning madly, _I knew he would make a great leader_. Jaune shrugged,

"Pure luck." He smiled, "I'd say stuff about Grimm instinct to sound cool, but it was really pure, dumb luck that they retreated." Before he could say anything more he found himself at gunpoint.

"So you're saying that it was pure luck we didn't get swarmed by the juvenile Deathstalkers?" Frowned Ren.

"Yep!" he answered cheerfully.

"…"

* * *

Weiss blinked. One moment Yang was hugging Ruby happily, then she blinked and saw that Yang was in the sky beating the life out of the Nevermore. "What just happened?" questioned Blake as she watched her partner repeatedly fire shells into the bird Grimm's mouth. Her questions were answered somewhat when Ruby happened upon a lock of Yang's hair and explained the situation. If it weren't for the fact that it tried to kill her, the bookworm might have actually felt sorry for it. Speaking of worms,

"Why haven't you gotten out of that worm costume yet Weiss?" questioned Ruby. The heiress scoffed, "who am I, Jaune? I can't get changed that quickly."

"But isn't it a zip-on costume?"

"…"

"Weiss?" Blake interrupted Ruby's pestering as she pointed towards the Nevermore. It was diving right towards them. The three girls squealed uncharacteristically as it destroyed the ground slightly. "Weiss, ground it!" cried the reaper after coming to her senses. The white haired girl nodded and froze the tail feathers in place. "Second time's the charm!" shouted Ruby as she rocketed towards the Grimm using the same spin manoeuvre as last time. This time however, she actually managed to land a direct hit. Jumping off of the injured Nevermore she landed on the ribbon of Gambol Shroud, stretching it far enough that it hovers next to Weiss' glyph. The heiress smiled slightly as she rolled her eyes,

"Of course _you_ would come up with this kind of plan." She chuckled.

"Think you can make the shot?" The girl scoffed.

"Hmph, can I?" she asked rhetorically,

Ruby turned to her questioningly, "can y-"

"Of course I can! I'll have you know, I played a lot of angry birds!" Before Ruby could comment the glyph turned red, showing that their semblances combined, launching the reaper at the bird.

The hooded girl continuously unloaded her clip into the air to keep her momentum as she clotheslined the Nevermore with Crescent Rose. Weiss put up speed glyphs as Ruby landed on the cliff. Letting out her battle cry Ruby ran up the cliff, Nevermore in tow, before reaching the edge of the cliff and beheading the bird Grimm with a final shot. She looked up to see a shocked Glynda Goodwitch and a smirking Ozpin. "Hi Professors!" she smiled childishly. Before any of the two could comment a girly shriek came from below. The reaper shook her head in disappointment. "Jaune probably pissed Ren off again."

Ozpin watched in mild amusement as she jumped back off the cliff to see what happened. It's a shame that they don't have some form of reward system where they get points for every Grimm killed, because those two teams would've had plenty. "So, Ruby had gotten her team to work together to decapitate the Grimm despite their glaring differences in personalities, whilst Jaune banded together with his team, cut the stinger of a Veteran Deathstalker before proceeding to impale it with it's own weapon. Not to mention his apparent tactical skill. Interesting, what say you Glynda?" He smiled as he mockingly took a sip of his coffee. The witch rolled her eyes, though she was impressed by the two. It appears she was wrong, for now.

"I say that, if you weren't the headmaster of this school, spying on kids as they traverse through a forest would come off as rather creepy." She commented. Ozpin merely nodded absentmindedly, only barely hearing her.

"I suppose it would be." He replied, too busy watching to actually make a proper response.

* * *

The two groups of Huntresses and Huntsmen in training laughed heartily, they had just survived their first encounter with Grimm at the school. Yang chucked, "Well that was a thing." She commented. The rest of the group made a mental note to never harm Ruby or Yang's hair. Ever.

"All's well that ends well." Laughed Jaune as he high-fived his team. The two males shared a look and nodded before turning to the others. "Now, if you'll excuse us for a moment." And with that, the two fainted on the spot. Exhausted from their work, each fell into the arms of their partners.

"… So how are we going to get back up?"

* * *

**Well. That's it. I'm so sorry that you guys had to wait so long for another chapter, only for it to be shorter than the rest. As far as I can tell, I'm not that good at writing action, so sorry if you guys had to pull your hair out at some scenes.**

**The reason that this chapter is shorter is because it was originally a part of the previous chapter, but the transfer from draft to second copy made it too long to just be one chapter; and I wanted to save the next bits for the following chapter.**

**Either way, it's done so here it is. Hope you enjoyed it!  
****Please favourite, follow and review if you did!**

**Anyone who can guess all the references to things gets a stack of Nora's special pancakes to bribe your nearest Ren.**


	4. Chapter 4- First Day

**Hello all, and welcome back to another chapter! We managed to make it over 100 Favourites so thanks everyone. You guys are awesome!**

**As per usual, I will be responding to your reviews. If you don't feel like reading this feel free to skip to the story.**

**lukefang: **You don't know whether or not Jaune's a writer *laughs nervously*, but if he was, I would be referencing not only books inside of anime and games, but light novels, visual novels and actual books I have read. Not that this is happening of course, Jaune isn't a writer…

**Benthino:** I believe I'm at least adequate in writing, however action scenes are another piece altogether. Glad you want to see more.

**Cloy552: **It's Yang, she can convince anyone to do anything if she wanted to. Besides, not many people can be rational or calm when a giant bird is attacking them with intent to kill. You can't blame her for following the only plan established at that moment.  
You haven't lived 'till you've tried one of Nora's special pancakes.

**CrazyTrollR49:** Uh, cool. Honestly not sure how to respond.

**dracohalo117: **Thanks for the praise, hope you enjoy this chapter as well. It might just answer your question.

**gammabeta99: **Thanks! I try to update as soon as I can.

**Well, there are the reviews. Thanks for the support! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 4 – First day

Jaune laughed nervously as he stared anxiously at the large audience before him. The knight felt his arms shake vigorously as he paced on the spot. Pyrrha smiled at him, watching as he continuously walked in circles. "It'll be fine Jaune." The champion calmly spoke as she reassured her partner, leaving her hand on his shoulder for comfort.

The knight smiled slightly and thanked her. It had been fifteen minutes since Jaune and Ren had woken up after collapsing following the intense initiation, and now he had to deal with this. Needless to say, he was exhausted. All the partners who had managed to obtain a relic in the forest were now gathered at the side of the stage in the school auditorium. Jaune sighed with a shaky breath. He was bruised, exhausted and probably had a broken bone or two from being tossed around, and now he was shaking nervously like a leaf in the wind.

Ozpin had called out quite a few names already, what if his wasn't called? What if they found out about his faked transcripts? He gasped mentally, what if they found out about _it_?

Pyrrha noticed the blond knight shudder visibly and giggled. She pat Jaune's back soothingly, "Don't worry about it too much, it will be fine." She smiled, stressing out the last part. The Spartan girl turned to the stage as another team walked up.

Jaune stifled a gasp as his eyes glowed momentarily.  
_"Jaune, I think you'll make a great leader." Smiled Pyrrha._  
The knight's body twitched slightly, barely managing to stop himself from turning to the girl. The action was so indistinguishable Ren had hardly noticed the change. The key word being hardly. However, upon seeing no further movement from his new friend the silent boy chalked it up to his exhaustion.

"Did you say something Pyrrha?" the knight queried.

The red haired girl looked back to the confused boy, giving him a questioning look. "I don't believe so Jaune. Perhaps you're still exhausted." On the inside the champion was fretting. _I didn't say how handsome he was out loud did I?_ She mentally screamed. Jaune shrugged, his partner was probably right and he was just hearing things.

The group watched as Ozpin called up more people. "Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark." The four boys grinned and bumped fists as they walked onto the stage. The large monitor above the stage in the auditorium displayed the profiles of the boys as Ozpin listed their names. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Cardinal (CRDL)." Jaune watched as the profiles moved to suit the new team name, arranging them to spell out CRDL using a single letter from their initials. "Lead by Cardin Winchester." Cardin smirked and high-fived his team before walking off the stage as the crowd applauded obligatorily.

Ozpin gazed at his script, lazily holding it out for all to see. Jaune nearly facefaulted at the headmaster's clear disrespect for the formality of the event. Meanwhile the man smirked inwardly as he watched the reactions of those who noticed his gesture. He may have been a rather serious and cryptic man, but that didn't mean he couldn't have fun every now and again. "Only two more teams and I can have my 'me time'." He muttered under his breath. "Why Glynda won't allow me to drink coffee during this is beyond me." Jaune sighed, for a person in charge of possibly hundreds of students, Ozpin was certainly a rather strange man.

The crowd fell silent as the headmaster coughed to garner their attention. The man spoke formally as he announced the next team, "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie." The champion smiled and pat Jaune on the back as they moved towards the stage. Meanwhile, the knight was heaving a euphoric sigh of relief. He returned his partner's smile and got up onto the stage beaming happily. The crowd laughed as they saw a blushing Ren carry Nora on stage in what she deemed a 'slothy back ride'. The wild girl was perched happily on his back as she cheered before finally separating as they reached Ozpin. The four grinned at him as they got into a row. Smiling like a parent would to a child, Ozpin spoke. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Juniper (JNPR)-" Jaune chuckled as Nora tackled her childhood friend, laughing joyfully, sending the two to the floor. His laughter increased tenfold upon noticing Ozpin's annoyed expression, he obviously does not like to be interrupted during a speech. Frowning at the boy's laughter Ozpin spoke up once more, this time with an amused tone of voice. "Led by Jaune Arc!" He announced evilly. Jaune choked on his laughter as Pyrrha turned to him worriedly.

"Oh dear, Jaune are you alright?" the Spartan girl cried as she panicked, slapping him on the back in order to soothe his choking and coughing fit. Unfortunately for the poor boy the girl misjudged her strength and sent him sprawling to the floor, right on top of Ren and Nora. Ozpin watched the whole exchange unfold with a satisfied smirk on his face.

After recovering from his near-death experience, Jaune got up and gazed at Ozpin incredulously. "Me? Leader?" He shouted unbelievingly. "_Me?_" he repeated. The champion giggled as she walked up to her newly appointed leader, along with Ren and Nora.

"Jaune, I think you'll make a great leader." Smiled Pyrrha. Jaune flinched momentarily before sighing reluctantly. Ozpin genuinely smiled.

"Congratulations. That's what you get for interrupting my speech." For obvious reasons, the great and illustrious headmaster of Beacon Academy kept that last part to himself.

* * *

After the newly founded Team JNPR got off the stage Ozpin announced the last team. "And lastly. Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long." The girls all smiled as they walked up onto the stage. Yang however laughed and grinned toothily as they got up.

"You don't know 'Xiao Long' I've been waiting for our names to be called up!" Everyone within the auditorium, including Ozpin, groaned audibly at the blond's poor sense of humour. Yang ignored the groans and gasped as she heard something else. It could barely be noticed over the noise of the crowd, but the brawler heard it clear as day. The small noise was beautiful, someone in the crowd had just laughed at one of her puns and she will stop at nothing to find them.

Ozpin massaged his temples as he continued. "With that out of the way, the four of you retrieved the whit knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Ruby (RWBY). Led by, Ruby Rose!" He announced. Weiss looked disbelievingly at the young reaper as the crowd applauded.

Yang grinned, "I'm so proud of you sis!" she exclaimed as she hugged Ruby. "You really 'Rose' above us." Once again, upon ignoring the shouts of the naysayers, the blond bombshell heard the exact same laughter. Ozpin chose that moment to dismiss the students, wouldn't want any unfortunate circumstances to come about during one of his speeches.

Yang yanked Ruby to the side as the team walked off the stage. The reaper gulped audibly at her sister's expression. It was the expression of pure seriousness. She shivered, this only happens on one occasion. "Let me guess, someone laughed at your pun; and you want me to help you find them."

Yang smiled. "You know me too well."

Ruby laughed nervously. "Yeah, though I have no clue how someone can find your puns funny." She mumbled to herself. She gazed at the packed auditorium and whistled; practically all of Beacon was in here. The brawler was basically trying to find a needle in a haystack. In the middle of a tornado. At sea.

The four girls walked off to go join Team JNPR in their celebrations as the students within the auditorium slowly filed out. Glynda chuckled as she strolled up to Ozpin, holding his mug brimmed with coffee. Seeing this, the illustrious and proud headmaster of Beacon academy practically fell on his knees and begged for the mug back. The witch smiled, momentarily enjoying his moment of weakness. "I have no idea why you and Bartholomew love this coffee so much. I prefer tea myself." Ozpin hastily grabbed the mug and cleared his throat, moving into a stance more suitable for his title. He gave the woman a cryptic gaze.

"It's not just the coffee, it's the mug. This mug is very precious to me." He answered calmly. The man began to sweat heavily as the witch gave him a smirk.

"Is that why you delegated 10% of the schools budget to coffee ingredients?" She watched in clear amusement as Ozpin choked on his coffee. _How did she know?_ He cried mentally.

Finished with her scolding she glanced at the two teams of RWBY and JNPR as they managed to finally exit the room. "What do you think?" she asked seriously. Ozpin watched the teams happily interact with each other as they walked out the door.

"Between Ruby Rose, the adorkable prodigy with a not-so-adorable giant killer scythe, and Jaune Arc, the seemingly lovable idiot with a hidden ability and a noticeable knack for being a tactician, this is going to be a rather interesting year." He spoke, sipping his coffee with a mysterious look in his eye.

* * *

"Yang, what are you doing?" Yawned Ruby, clothed in her night attire that consisted of a black tank top and white long pants with a rose flower design. She stretched as she got out of the bed and stared blankly at her sister. Across the room Yang was stringing together pictures and sheets of paper along the wall.

The blond brawler turned to her with a smile, "Just trying to figure out whom it was that laughed at my puns." She stated matter-of-factly. Ruby gave her a look as she glanced at her clothing. She hadn't changed to her usual pajamas.

"Were you up all night?" the reaper asked as she pointed her finger at the blond accusingly.

The older of the two scoffed. "Of course not!" she huffed indignantly. "I slept for at least ten minutes before I got up to do this."

The sound of Ruby's face impacting the ground as she facefaulted from the sheer stupidity of Yang's actions woke the other two members of Team RWBY.

"What are you two doing at this time of day?" growled Weiss. She was in the middle of a rather pleasant dream. Her team was catering to her every need whilst Jaune and Ruby fed her grapes as she tossed dust out to the masses. The heiress' train of thought came to a halt. _Wait, why Jaune and Ruby?_ She shuddered at the thought.

Ruby grumbled unhappily, "Oh nothing, just thinking my sister is weird." She frowned. Yang shot her a look.

"Says the one whose going out with her scythe." She snapped.

The younger girl gasped, "You leave Crescent Rose out of this!" The remainder of Team RWBY rolled their eyes at the equally strange sisters.

After a few hours of listening to the two bicker Weiss couldn't take it anymore. The mere sound of their fighting prevented her from getting any more sleep, and dust knows she needs it to recover from the previous day. "I don't care who is weirder than the other, just go to sleep!" she growled. Unfortunately for the sleepy heiress and bookworm the two sisters payed her no mind as they continued with their argument.

* * *

Meanwhile across the hallway in Team JNPR's room their new leader, the ever-vigilant Jaune Arc, woke with a start at hearing a loud angry voice. "I'm sorry!" he yelled reflexively as he bolted up. Scouting around the room, however, he didn't find the source of the voice; only a sleeping Ren, Nora and Pyrrha. He scratched his head in confusion. "Weird, could've sworn I heard Weiss." He mumbled to himself sleepily before falling right back into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

Weiss sneezed and frowned, was someone talking about her? She froze upon realising what she had just done. She slowly turned to her teammates in hopes that no one noticed. Unfortunately the look on Yang's face spoke otherwise. The heiress glared with all of her being at the blond boxer. "Yang, don't you dare!"

Yang mockingly gasped at her, emphasising the action by laying a hand on her chest. "Weiss!" she grinned, "did you just 'Schneeze'?"

Let it be known that the buxom blond did not regret a thing as she was assaulted by a book, a cookie and a suitcase. Blake stared at her partner's unmoving body. "Well, at least we can sleep now." She muttered. The three conscious members of Team RWBY froze as Weiss' alarm clock rang, signifying it was time to get ready for classes. "Dust damn it."

* * *

Jaune yawned loudly as he entered the classroom of Professor Port. The boy uncomfortably fiddled with his uniform, he wasn't exactly used to this type of clothing and felt rather restricted, as opposed to his usual outfit where the black hoodie gave him more freedom to move. He scanned the room for an empty seat and smiled as he saw one next to Blake. Upon closer inspection of the bookworm and her team he noticed that they were all extremely tired, or appeared to be that way. "What's up pussycat?" he grinned as he sat down. The knight noticed the girl stiffen slightly upon his greeting but just chalked it off to his imagination. "Why are you guys so tired?" he queried.

Blake turned to him with an exhausted look. "Yang." She stated simply.

The blond boy gave it a bit of thought before shrugging, "Makes sense." The two sat in a strangely comfortable silence for a moment before Jaune turned to talk. He was interrupted, however, when his team entered the room.

"Jaune-Jaune Arc, why did you leave us at the cafeteria?" scolded Nora. The knight flushed in embarrassment as all of Team RWBY, laughed at the Valkyrie's way of saying his name.

"First of all, Nora. Please just call me Jaune. Second of all, I needed to go do something before coming here." The strange girl smiled,

"Okay!" she cheered. She turned to the female team next to Jaune as the three sat down. "Heya gals!" she exclaimed happily.

"Good morning." Greeted Pyrrha politely.

The four members of Team RWBY sleepily smiled back and spoke their good mornings. From the row back, Ruby nudged Ren who looked just as sleepy as her team, if not sleepier. "Why are you so sleepy?" she asked as she yawned adorably.

The boy yawned back, "Nora didn't let me get any sleep last night." Yang blinked,

"Innuendoes aside, why?"

Nora grinned, "We made victory pancakes all night!" she exclaimed. Ren responded to her outburst by falling loudly onto his desk unconscious.

Unfortunately for the poor boy, his sleep was broken as Professor Port entered. Jaune pitied his new friend for a moment before turning his attention to the man standing before the class. He appeared to be a middle-aged man with grey hair and a moustache and wore a burgundy suit. The teacher also seemed rather portly.

Jaune visibly brightened. Here was a man who was an actual huntsman. Someone who had most likely fought thousands upon thousands of Grimm and knew the ins and outs of being a huntsman, and carried the traits he believed one would have. Tenacity, confidence, strength, intelligence, wisdom and modesty, traits that he hoped, he too, would gain. The knight might finally learn how to actually be a decent huntsman.

* * *

Jaune snapped out of his boredom-induced slumber as he heard the 'experienced huntsman' call out to his students. "So who among you believe themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" he exclaimed. Jaune watched in interest as Weiss' hand shot up immediately.

"I do sir!" she all but growled out. _Wonder what's up with her_ thought Jaune.

Port laughed heartily. "Well then, let's find out shall we?" he gestured towards a large cage. The insides of the cage were pitch black despite the brightness of the room. The only thing visible within were a pair of red eyes. "Meet Edgar" the man introduced. "He will be your opponent."

* * *

Weiss frowned; she just couldn't take it anymore. How did that annoying, and admittedly cute, dunce manage to become a team leader where she could not? Her, Weiss Schnee! She wasn't perfect, far from it, but she was till a better candidate than that cookie-eating nuisance!

Well now she'd show her, she'd show them all that Weiss Schnee was the better person for the job. She could imagine it now.  
She would be the team leader, the team name would be changed to WRBY or WBRY or WYBR, maybe she'd think of a better one later. Ruby, Yang, and Blake would all worship- uh, _respect_ her, and hand feed her grapes like a goddess.

She pictured Ruby, Yang, Blake and even Team JNPR kneeling as she stood above them. "Go Weiss!" cheered Ruby.

"Yeah, you're the best!" shouted Blake.

Yang bowed before her, "You're so much more attractive than me, teach me your ways!" The heiress laughed boastfully as her team and Team JNPR chanted her name.

"Weiss. Weiss. Weiss."

She was broken out of her daydream when the chanting became frantic shouting. "Weiss! Watch out!" cried Ruby and Jaune simultaneously. They watched as she quickly jumped out of the way as Edgar the Boarbatusk rolled through. Her adrenaline removing all traces of the fatigue she was feeling moments before, along with her aura. She yelled a battle cry as she attempted to strike at it with Myrtenaster, however the hide of the boar-like Grimm was too tough for it to pierce through.

"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that were you?" chuckled Port. Jaune was confused; the Grimm appeared to have four eyes that were circles. But the red eyes that could've been seen earlier were more semi-oval in appearance. He shrugged, Grimm were strange.

Ruby waved her arms frantically, "Weiss, go for its belly! There's no armour underneath-" The heiress glared at her.

"Stop telling me what to do!" she growled. The moment's distraction was all Edgar needed and knocked the Multi-Action Dust Rapier out of Weiss' hands, the weapon flying a few meters away. The class collectively gasped as she was knocked backwards. Before the Boarbatusk could take advantage of Weiss' moment of weakness she rolled swiftly to the side and made a dash for her weapon. The Grimm barely had time to blink as the girl fully clad in white grabbed Myrtenaster and got into a battle stance. Taking it as a challenge Edgar rolled towards the heiress to attack, the girl then used a series of hand movements to create a glyph that stopped her opponent's charge and opened their weak point. Using another glyph she launched herself into the exposed stomach, instantly killing the Grimm.

The class clapped and cheered as she stood up. Port joined in with the clapping as he finished assessing her. "Bravo, bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training." He laughed, truly impressed by her prowess. "Unfortunately that is all the time we have today. Be sure you cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant! Class dismissed."

Jaune frowned as he watched Weiss storm out of the classroom. "What is her problem?" he wondered once again. The rest of the group nodded in agreement. Ruby however sped out of the classroom, more than likely using her semblance to catch up. Pyrrha caught Jaune's worried look and smiled at him, "Go after them." He nodded and sprinted after the two. Blake and Ren both noticed the look on the champion's face as she watched the knight exit the room, but dismissed it as Ren was tackled by Nora and Blake had to deal with Yang not giving another of her books back.

* * *

Jaune managed to catch up to the two runaways just in time to hear the older of the two scold the reaper and storm off once more. He was about to approach his first friend at Beacon when Ozpin came out of nowhere and began to speak to her. The knight sighed in defeat; the headmaster probably had this. With that he walked away; slightly disheartened that he couldn't help out any of his new friends. Ozpin was already consoling ruby and Weiss stormed off to dust knows where.

Jaune decided to wander the halls aimlessly, that was their last period for the day, and it wasn't like the school had a curfew. Which was strange considering they would normally want trainees to get the regular amount of sleep if they want to be combating Grimm. He sighed once more as his mind went around the place to pass the time, what day was it today? They had arrived on Monday, initiation took place the day prior, so today was Wednesday. He froze. Today was the deadline and he'd written next to nothing! "Well then, only one thing to do now." Jaune sprinted towards his team room and quickly slammed open the door, being careful to make a little noise as possible despite slamming it open. Wouldn't do good if he were to be caught, the things his team would say. With the speed of a cheetah he grabbed his equipment that he had kept under a fake bottom in his suitcase and booked it out of the room. Unbeknownst to the knight, Pyrrha watched him leave with a worried look on her face.

Jaune quickly checked the time as he approached the library. "Still six ours 'till deadline." He muttered to himself. Upon entering the silent library he was greeted the librarian. She appeared to be only slightly older than him, maybe by two or three years.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely as he entered. He smiled.

"Hi, my name's Jaune Arc and it's my third day here. I'm just here for a bit of private studying, is there a corner in this library that I can sit at? Preferably away from other study areas?"

The girl nodded. "I was wondering why I'd never seen you here before, I know practically everyone here at Beacon now. Well Mr Arc, there is a secluded corner over at the back, just passed the romance section. No one really goes around there because they don't want to be seen reading romance." She giggled. Jaune grinned.

"Thanks, and please just call me Jaune," he laughed, "I never was one for formalities. What is your name? I'm probably going to be coming here a lot now."

The librarian blushed slightly, misunderstanding his statement as a compliment. "It's Amethyst."

"Amethyst huh? That's a nice name, nice to meet you." He gave her another grin, "See you around, and thanks for the help again!" The librarian chuckled as he walked off.

Jaune sat down at the secluded area pointed out by Amethyst. It was basically a small nook that included a table surrounded by chairs and a couple of beanbags. After observing the area to make sure there was no one around Jaune sat at the table. He set out his equipment and started his self-taught breathing exercise. He slowly inhaled and exhaled as he chanted to himself, _in, out, in, out_. A dozen or so seconds spent inhaling and exhaling later; it finally achieved the desired outcome. Jaune's eyes glowed a bright white for a moment. Staring at the laptop he had brought determinedly and set out to do what he does best. He started on the next part of his novel.

* * *

The young lady in red waited for her saviour to come, for today was the day they had appointed to meet. They were to wait for each other at this café where they could eat and exchange pleasantries before he would escort her through his hometown, Dale. To be completely honest it was exciting, she was going against the whims of her older sister coming through this town and every second was exhilarating. The very idea that they could be caught midway through their date gave the young lady a sense of adventure. Her dainty hand flew to her mouth quickly as she stifled a giggle; once again she had called their little rendezvous a date despite the young man's vehement claims that it wasn't so. Even for someone older than she, he was quite reserved and awkward around new people; but that was just one of his many charms and what led her, the next Queen in line, to fall hopelessly in love with him. She sighed happily and smiled at the thought. She, Sapphire Rose, was in love with her saviour, Gray North. A man she had known for not even a week. It was preposterous to think that one could fall in love so easily, and yet she had. His dazzling white hair, the decisive look of his bright blue eyes, his calm yet embarrassed smiled whenever he saw her, the way he would treat her as if she were a normal person rather than the upcoming Queen by calling her a dunce every now and again, even his strange way of fighting all attributed to her affections for him. Yes, she must be in love.

* * *

"What are 'ya doin' Jaune?" Queried a voice from behind him.

"Sweet mother of breadcrumbs and biscuits!" Exclaimed Jaune as he jumped in his seat, hurriedly closing his laptop on the way down. "You scared the living daylights out of me!" The boy turned to see it was Nora who had surprised him. She was grinning madly and holding what appeared to be a plate of pancakes and a… Shovel?

"Oh sorry." She apologized, "So, what _are_ you doing?" Jaune tensed for a moment. Should he tell her? No. No offence to the sloth-loving girl, but she would sell him out at a drop of a pancake. Literally. Give her pancakes and she'll do nearly anything so long as it doesn't hurt her friends. Therefore, he must lie. No matter how much he doesn't want to.

"I, uh, was just catching up on Professor Port's notes. I fell asleep during his class you see and kinda borrowed Ruby's." He lied. Nora cocked her head in confusion.

"I thought Ruby wasn't paying attention or was asleep through most of the class too."

Jaune hung his head. "Yeah, she had to borrow Weiss' notes." He deadpanned. "Anyway, what's with the shovel?" The knight asked, partly because he was curious and partly because he wanted to change the subject. Nora took one look at the shovel and laughed.

"Oh this? I just finished building the sloth enclosure out front!" She chirped happily.

Jaune looked at her incredulously. "Ozpin gave you permission to build a sloth enclosure on school grounds?"

Once again Nora cocked her head in confusion. "We need permission?"

"…"

The silence was broken by Nora's scroll vibrating. "Oh, Renny's calling me. Bye!" Before Jaune could say anything the Valkyrie ran off, plateful of pancakes and shovel in tow.

He sighed, that girl was an enigma. He checked the clock and noted that it had been fifteen minutes since he had began writing, including the few minutes Nora had been there. He frowned; normally he'd be able to write more than this. What had changed from his usual routine? Other than the obvious of course.

Jaune yawned as he rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he seemed to pick up and couldn't get rid of. He was probably just overworking his semblance; he hardly used it outside of writing back before Beacon so it would be understandable that he wouldn't be able to use it too much. It could also have been leftover exhaustion from initiation. Shrugging Jaune continued the chapter. Once again he reached a comfortable typing speed for him, the likes of which not many could achieve. It was practically impossible the speed in which he could type and formulate ideas, and he owed it all to his semblance and years of practice.

He smiled as he typed casually, it was his family who had assisted him in finding out what his semblance was and it was thanks to his sister that he had unlocked his aura several years back. This was why he loved his semblance as it was a conjoined effort of every single person in his immediate family, so he would not let it go to waste. He couldn't count the endless days he had spent practicing using his semblance to the point where he could do what he did today.

Turning back to the work in progress the knight realised he had already finished. Quickly glancing at the time he realised that four hours had passed by, _time goes fast when you're reminiscing I guess_. Rereading the story over for the fifth time, checking for spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, he frowned as he realised that something was missing. The blond writer continued to read over his work to figure out what was missing from his work, and upon the seventh reread, and comparing previous works, he realised what was not there.

The boy glanced around the area to make sure no one was around. Jaune groaned in reluctant acceptance as he moved closer to the laptop to add the missing ingredient; smut. He sighed and got ready to kill himself with embarrassment. There was too much fluff and nothing like the usual, where he'd blend the two in a sweet and spicy concoction. In all honesty, he'd be too embarrassed to do this himself and have to ask one of his sisters who hade more… experience, with this type of thing. When he had began writing this and why he had no clue, but it had quickly become a consistent part of the stories he writes.

The knight was incredibly embarrassed as he added the finishing details an hour later. He had his semblance to thank for the ability to write an entire novella, plot and all, in five hours. Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time that week Jaune sent the finished piece to his publisher. He smiled when he thought of his publisher. He also had a lot to thank her for, and it wasn't just sticking around with him whilst he was just a beginner writer. She was also the one who helped him fake his transcripts to enter Beacon, although reluctantly. As the blond writer sent the document to his publisher he checked the time.

"Time to rest I guess." He yawned. Stretching he heard loud pops come from his joints and moaned in appreciation. Using a semblance, especially his, for five hours straight after using it several times the day previous would definitely exhaust a person, even if they had as much aura as he did. It would be wise to get some sleep now, especially since he has classes tomorrow. Nodding to himself, he packed up his equipment and walked back to his team room.

* * *

Meanwhile, within Vale, a young woman was strolling around the shops in hopes for some late-night ice cream when she received a message.

From: Jaune Arc  
To: LittleMissPublisher  
Subject: Next story.  
Here's the next story LittleMissPublisher, hope you enjoy it! As per usual just do whatever you want with it. I'm really happy that you still choose to publish my work.

The woman smiled and lifted her hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. With nimble fingers she sent the attached document to the 'editor' and made sure to remind him to send the finished piece to their subscribers. Just as she hit send her eyes changed colours as she happily continued her walk.

* * *

Blake was in the library reading quietly when she noticed Jaune exit after having a quick talk to the librarian. _Strange, I don't remember him entering,_ she thought to herself. Deciding that it was just her being too engrossed in her book to notice she continued reading. However before she could move on to the next paragraph she received a message.

From: Yang Xiao Long  
To: Blake Belladonna  
Subject: YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS  
Blake, Jane Caur just sent a preview of her next novella to all of her subscribers, and it's amazing! You have to read it!  
You are subscribed right?

"Wait, since when did Yang have my contact details?" she asked aloud. She then froze, "Wait, you can subscribe to Jane Caur to receive her stories early? As in the Jane Caur who wrote 'Ninja's of Love'?" The girl shook and giggled in excitement. She stopped immediately when she realised that the librarian gave her a strange look. Coughing and composing herself she went to find out how to subscribe.

Apparently Jane had her own website, much to her surprise, and it was paradise. On it was every single novel and novella that she had written, as well as a few that she recommended, like 'D's Journal' or 'Loveless'. It was a bookworm's dream. She gazed at the preview for the new book. "To Sapphire, with love?" she read aloud. Within minutes of beginning the short novel Blake was laughing, crying and felt the usual tug on the heartstrings she had come to know and love. As much as she hated to say it, the bookworm would have to thank her partner for this.

Entering the room of Team RWBY, Blake found Ruby and Weiss sleeping with a smile on their face and Yang on her scroll reading. She coughed to gain her attention. "Hey Yang?"

The blond boxer grinned. "Yes Blake?~"

"Th-thanks… For, um, mentioning subscribing to me." She said slowly. It was hard to believe that Yang, a person who only knew of Jane Caur two days ago, knew about subscriptions where she, a person who had been reading for who knows how long, didn't.

Her partner grinned, "No problem. So what did you think of the new novel?" she asked.

Blake smiled as she sat down on her bed, "Although it felt… different, from the usual romance scenes, it was great." Yang nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, the scenes were more fluff than the usual spicy romance, but I didn't mind." The bookworm's eyes widened considerably.

"I didn't take you as a reader of anything other than smut." She was thoroughly surprised that she had a reading partner in her, well, partner.

Yang laughed, "Sweetheart, you'd be surprised how little you know about me."

The black haired beauty looked at the blond challengingly. "Other than puns, perverted things, Ruby, your hair and yourself, what else runs through your mind?"

Yang took up a thinking position for the better part of the next hour and frowned when she couldn't think of anything. "Okay, you know more than you let on."

A moment of silence passed and the two broke into laughter. With the ice broken the two leaped into conversation about Jane Caur's books. Blake was ecstatic that she finally had someone to talk to about books, even the ones that would normally embarrass her.

After a couple of hours talking about books the two finally decided to go to sleep.

"Night Blake." Yawned Yang.

Blake smiled back at the buxom blond. "Night Yang." She sighed contently; she also finally had someone she could say that to.

* * *

**Woo chapter done! Several new things were introduced in here, Jaune's semblance, his publisher, Yang's puns, the librarian, pieces of character development and Ozpin's love of coffee. Yeah.  
Also, things that have been introduced **_**will**_** be further explained later on, just be patient. I have this all drafted up to chapter 10 with ideas on plots and stuffs.**

**For those who want to know, yes I know introducing an OC is stupid most, if not all, of the time. Though I will be using Amethyst to introduce a few original plot points. She will also be my way of getting the main ship of this story together, as she will be playing matchmaker later on.  
I also did not give her a description on purpose as Jaune was in a rush and therefore did not take enough time to look at her properly.**

**Last note, I may not be able to update for a couple of weeks because I have some important things I need to be doing. Really sorry guys but it is incredibly important. I will try to make up for it somehow.**

**Anyone who can guess all the references to things gets a subscription to Jane Caur's books!**


	5. Chapter 5- Fans

**Thanks you guys once again for all the support you have given me. I really enjoy writing this story and am happy that you guys enjoy reading it! We managed to hit 200 Followers and 10'000 views. I never realised just how many people would read this, so thank you all.  
Sorry for the long wait, but I had something that came up that was incredibly important. Those of you who read the end A/N already knew that, this is just for those who didn't. It also took a little bit longer because I just couldn't get an explanation within the chapter to be less forced or static. The end result was acceptable, but not as good as I would like it to be.**

**Now, onto the usual review answering section!**

**lukefang: **Of course not! *More nervous laughter* He definitely isn't a writer or anything like that haha…

**DarkElucidator: **Loveless is an epic from Final Fantasy 7 or VII.

**dracohalo117: **You will find out who the editor is eventually. But I like to believe it's rather obvious considering who Neo is.

**Keybladeknight39: **Congratulations, here's an obligatory clap! *Clap*

**Benthino:** Yes. Yes it is.

**CrazyTrollR49: **No problem! I think it's awesome that my story was able to help someone, so thank you for taking the time to show your appreciation.

**Lucky (Guest): **'D's Journal' is a reference to the book from Square Enix's Bravely Default, one of my favourite games.

**Anon (Guest): **It will be a mystical, magical journey filled with pancakes and references.

**Cloy552: **Thanks for that! I fixed the error, it was just a small mistake on my part that came about due to me being in the middle of writing up the next few chapters and ideas. Yes, D's Journal is a reference to Bravely Default, his pen name is a strangely good anagram, I love the idea of Neo being his publisher, and you'll find out about that last one soon.

**Zaynal:** You will find the answer to that soon.

**duskrider: **Thanks!

**garoorar: **It may be obvious, but it's surprisingly clever. You will find out whether or not you are correct later. Maybe.

**do Jr st poor (Guest):** It really depends on whether people want a WhiteRose pairing. I don't mind, but I'd like to see what they think first.

**Kegi Springfield: **You will find out who the editor is later on. Though I would've thought Neo being the publisher narrowed the people down considering she hasn't been seen with many characters.

**Xager-the-Chaos-King: **Just wait and see, hopefully you'll enjoy the result.

**daniel8472:** Thanks, I really try to keep the characters in, well, character. The problem is that soon all the events that are going to happen to them will eventually change their character to non-canon. Though until that happens I'll try to keep them as is.

**That… was a lot of reviews to get through. Yeesh. So thanks for all your continued support! I really appreciate your reviews and it makes me happy reading them, even if there are a lot of them.**

**Realised I didn't put a disclaimer in the last chapter, so:  
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any other mentioned franchises in any of the chapters I write.  
**_**Any**_** franchises. At all. I don't own them.**

* * *

Chapter 5 – Fans

It was a dawn of a new day at Beacon, the birds were chirping, the sun was slowly rising and Ruby had a whistle. To everyone's, or more specifically Weiss', discomfort Ruby blew said whistle. The adorable reaper grinned, "It's time for Team RWBY's first mission!" She cheered. Weiss groaned in annoyance of her leader's antics as she got out of her bed.

"We have a mission already?"

Yang smiled, "Yep, decorating!" She exclaimed cheerfully. The buxom blond quickly pulled out a couple of posters and decoration items from… somewhere, and held them up for the heiress to see.

Ruby frowned as she put her hands on her hips in a motherly fashion. "It's already been two days and we haven't even started to decorate our team room! How can we live here for the next four years if we can't even do that much for it?"

Blake chucked in her two cents, "And we still need to unpack-" She chimed as she held out her suitcase. The three other girls watched in amusement as the introvert's luggage broke open, vomiting out it's contents onto the floor faster than Jaune on a rollercoaster, "-and clean." She continued. Yang grinned as she saw a rather interesting article of clothing.

"Ho-ho! 'Bit risqué don't you think Blake?" she teased as she held it up for the team to see. Ruby blushed at the clothing whilst Weiss stared in shock. Blake quickly swiped the offending piece with the speed of a ninja and glared at them.

"No one speaks a word of this." She growled. "_To anyone_."

Weiss rolled her eyes, "I'd rather not remember it ever again thank you very much."

Ruby chuckled nervously, "Well, with that out of the way, let's go Team RWBY!"

The heiress smiled, "Alright then." Blake and Yang gasped simultaneously. Weiss was actually being _compliant_? The white haired girl blushed as she saw the looks on their faces. She shot them a look, "Don't misunderstand, i-it's an order from our team leader, and it's not like I want to do this because it looks like it would be fun. And I'm certainly not only following Ruby's orders because she's as cute as a puppy. Definitely not." She huffed.

The two beauties giggled and shared a look. "Riiiight~ Whatever you say princess~" she sang.

Weiss glared at her as she put up a painting, "It's heiress."

The blond bombshell smiled challengingly at her "Sure, okay _Princess_" she grinned as she stressed out the final word.

"Yang Xiao Long, you are dead to me."

"Luv you too princess."

Ruby glared at the two, "C'mon, now is not the time to be fighting. We have a room to decorate- I mean, a team building exercise to do!" The two huffed and turned away from each other, crossing their arms as they did. The young leader nodded affirmatively and smiled when they separated. "Now then, let's continue Team RWBY's first mission!" The other three cheered along with their leader before they moved to go unpack and assemble their belongings.  
Yang put up a poster of the 'Achieve Men', Weiss hung another painting that she had somehow managed to fit in a suitcase, Ruby put up some new curtains only to cut them in half after finishing, and Blake placed some of her favourite smu- 'art' on the bookshelf, taking special care to hide the ones Yang would be likely to steal.  
The bookworm frowned as she looked over her precious collection. She was missing the latest Jane Caur novel. Sighing she realised she would have to head to town during the weekend to acquire it. The task was not going to be an easy feat considering she couldn't outright tell her team 'Hey, I'm going to Vale to buy some smu- 'art'. I'll be back by six or so.' Yang would more than likely come with her whilst teasing, Weiss would look disappointed, Ruby would be blushing and Blake would never be able to live it down.

Shaking the unpleasant thoughts out of her head the introvert decided to cross the bridge when she got there.

Making up her mind Blake continued to absentmindedly unpack her belongings from her second suitcase. "Geez Blake, they're nearly as big as mine!" whistled Yang appreciatively, " How did you hide that, or rather, _them_?" Blake blushed as she realised what the boxer was referring to. She was in the middle of sorting her clothes when Yang caught sight of the surprisingly large article of clothing. Weiss glared at her perverted teammate.

"Y-Yang, you shouldn't make such crude and uncivilised comments about Blake's…" she trailed off.

Yang grinned, "About Blake's lacy black-"

"Yes about that!" the heiress snapped.

The blond rolled her eyes. "Please princess, you're just jealous that Blake and I aren't as flat as you."

Weiss scoffed as her glare sharpened. "I am not flat!" She shot back angrily. Ruby laughed nervously,

"Uh, weren't we decorating the room?" She mumbled weakly, "y'know, team bonding and stuff?" Weiss turned to her partner and attempted to muster her harshest glare at the reaper. Unfortunately or fortunately for the white haired girl the younger girl had chosen that moment to pout adorably, effectively stopping her glare short.

"A-as much as I hate to admit it, Ruby has a point." She stammered, "we are a team now, and therefore must act like one."

Yang grinned as she crossed her arms, not so subtly accentuating her rather large bust. "Way to take the high road princess." She laughed.

"Heiress."

"Whatever you say princess." Weiss groaned.

* * *

After another half hour or so of sorting their room the four members of Team RWBY noticed a glaring problem. Ruby deadpanned, "We didn't think this through did we?" The room was perfectly clean and all of their belongings were spread out evenly and neatly. The beds, however, were another story altogether.

Weiss frowned, "So Miss 'Team Leader', what do you suppose we do?" Ruby stood there for a moment before smiling kindly at the heiress.

"I believe that Weiss, the co-leader of Team RWBY, should come up with our next plan of action." Weiss was taken aback, was Ruby actually appointing her as second in charge? Weiss, for the first time since arriving at Beacon, genuinely smiled in pure delight. Maybe the dolt wasn't as incompetent as she had initially thought. Coming to this realisation the girl sighed.

"No Ruby, our fearless leader should choose what we do about this predicament." The young reaper smiled and nodded in appreciation.

"Then I believe we should have bunk beds!" She exclaimed. The three other members of the team, although accepting of this, gave her questioning looks. "What? Bunk beds will separate our team from the others because of our creativity and ingenuity, _and_ they are an efficient use of space." The girls were surprised at Ruby's well thought out and surprisingly sophisticated plan of action. "That and the fact that bunk beds are _awesome_!" The three could practically see the sophisticated part go down the drain. Sharing looks and laughs the girls cheered.

"Bunk beds it is!" And with that, the four members of Team RWBY got to work reshaping their beds.

After a gruelling hour of hammering, sawing, and an accidental explosion when Ruby came into contact with some of Weiss' fire dust, the four stepped away to admire their creation, or rather, _creations_. The members of Team RWBY had just crafted two fairly identical bunk beds, each embedded into the wall on separate sides of the room and walled in on the front. Luckily for them, the explosion caused by Ruby's contact with Weiss' dust blew down a section of the wall. This section had lead to a room that was hidden and had no use to the school. It also, conveniently enough, was big enough to fit several pieces of the furniture within their room to leave only the essentials, such as drawers, study table, beds etc.

Of course, the leftover wood broken down from the wall was used to construct a new door to the extension and fix their beds together and to the wall. Ren and Jaune, who were surprisingly good at fixing things, handled the woodwork. When asked, Ren would reply that it was a necessary skill to have around Nora, while when Ruby had asked Jaune he just laughed it off.

Each bunk bed had different themes to them, suiting their owner. Ruby had a rather cute, young girl vibe, complete with cookie and strawberry plushies and a red curtain for when she wanted some privacy or silence.  
Weiss had a regal air about hers, using embroideries to decorate the white blanket and curtains.  
Blake had a small bookshelf attached to the wall with her favourite books, along with a small reading light and a black curtain.  
Yang's bed was very… yellow. Ignoring that one of Blake's books was obviously hidden under the mattress, Yang had a surprisingly normal bed. No unique traits other than her 'Achieve Men' poster and the blinding yellow.

The four girls smiled proudly at their work, though Yang couldn't help but wonder, "How in Remnant did we manage to do all _this_ in an hour, even with Jaune and Ren's help?" she asked incredulously. Weiss shook her head,

"I've learnt not to question this kind of stuff." She grumbled.

Ruby nodded happily, "I now announce Team RWBY's first mission a great success! With a little help from Team JNPR of course." Weiss frowned as she looked outside.

"What time is it?"

Ruby gasped as she looked at her scroll. "Gah, we're going to be late to class! Again!" The four girls glanced at each other for a moment before bursting through the door, nearly unhinging it in the process, and sprinted towards their next class.

"Uh, did they say class?" Gulped Jaune. How did they manage to do this twice? Quickly exchanging looks with his team, they ran out of their assigned room. Jaune shivered, he still hadn't gotten used to that. _His_ team. Here he was in Beacon with his own team, who could definitely beat him easily during a battle. How did that happen? More importantly, what would his team think if, no _when_ they found out about _that_? The knight shook his head free of the thoughts. Now was no the time to be thinking things like that. "What class do we have now?" He asked curiously, he didn't get enough time to check out the timetable for the day. Looking around the knight realised that he had somehow gotten ahead of everyone and was seemingly parading them around the grounds.

Weiss' eye twitched angrily. "You mean to tell me, we followed you with that determined expression on your face for the past few minutes, and you didn't even know what class we had?" He nodded. Ruby, Blake and Yang all had to stifle their giggles as the unfortunate boy was sent into a wall, a hand mark printed on his face in bright red. It felt good to see that someone else had to suffer through Weiss' apparent perfectionism.

The knight winced as he rubbed his glowing cheek. "Seriously though, what class do we have now?" he asked once more.

Ren, deciding to save his leader the trouble of angering Weiss once more, spoke up. "Right now we have a Literature period, followed by a free subject as they have yet to find a new Dust Alchemy teacher; the last one having to leave early due to complications." The two teams looked at the normally silent boy in awe. "Our team then has a lunch period followed by another Grimm Studies class. We then have a short half hour break before we finish off with a Combat class." The boy recited, having memorised the timetable the previous day.

"Whoa." Gaped Ruby. Jaune nodded and whistled, today was going to be a long one. It felt like they only had one class yesterday. Weiss raised her brow in surprise.

"It appears we have the same timetable." She commented. Ruby cheered, that meant more people she knew were going to be in her classes.

It was then Jaune finally registered what subject they had now. "This school has a Literature class?"

Blake nodded, "Just because we're training to kill Grimm doesn't mean we get a break from the usual required studies." Jaune smiled. It made sense, and hey, if he got to do a subject he excelled in and enjoyed that was just an added bonus.

Pyrrha frowned, "Don't we have a class to be getting to?" The group's eyes widened as they realised the truth in the champion's words. Without further delay the Huntsman and Huntresses in training continued their sprint to the first class of the day, passing by an amused Ozpin and a rather enraged Glynda.

"Interesting group we have this year." Commented the Headmaster.

The witch looked on at the quickly fading figures. "Indeed. Not everyone can manage to be late for class twice in the first two days." She scowled. If they were late once more before the end of the week it would mean a detention for that student, and that meant she would lose her precious reading time. The teacher sighed in exasperation, just when a new novella had come out too.

* * *

Blake stared at the leader of Team JNPR. He was eerily interested in this subject considering that during their Grimm Studies class yesterday he had been asleep for the majority of it. Today, however, he was wide-awake and was even taking notes vigorously to the point where he reminded her of Weiss. She shivered visibly at the thought of two Weiss'. That would almost be as bad as two Noras or two Yangs. What had gotten into Jaune?  
She wasn't alone in her thoughts as Ren, Weiss and Pyrrha were staring at him intently. Ignoring the fact that Pyrrha had more than one reason to stare at him, they were all watching the blond for a similar reason. The blond boy was blissfully unaware of his observers as he took note after note, making sure he didn't miss a single letter of the teacher's lecture as she paced around the room. Who knows, these things might come in handy for the next book he was thinking of making.

Unknowingly to everyone but him and his publisher, he had a book going on the side of Jane Caur's released books. It was a set of two books so far, but he was planning on publishing the next one by the end of the month if things went well enough.

The books consisted of a series of medium length stories that were either too long to be a novella, too short to be an actual novel or not smutty enough to appear in Jane Caur's books. As easy as it would be to only have one pen name, it would be unrealistic to the character he was trying to portray through the persona of 'Jane Caur'. Jane, much like many of her novels, was fabricated through Jaune's own two hands. A fictional entity based loosely on a nonfictional person, or in this case nonfictional _people_. The writing style, ie the inclusion of smut, was based off of three of his older sisters, whilst the general intent between the writing was framed around his beloved older sister Luna Arc. She was, and still is, his idol. Sure his parents played a large role in forming who he was, and in unlocking his semblance. They were also his role models and he loved them to bits despite their… overbearing nature. However, Luna was still the one person he wanted to be like one day, excluding the difference in gender.

Sibling love aside, Jane was made to 'live, act and breath' like his beloved older sister and 'write' like the other three that he dearly loved as his way of showing that they were always in his mind whenever he wrote. Her personality portrayed by the intent behind the stories she writes was a testament to this.  
Therefore, he decided to craft a new persona to become his own writer. He loved Jane as she represented his sisters, but he still wanted to one day have stories that he could call his own. He reminded himself to thank his publisher once more, she had stuck with him through his early novels and had even done so much as to get him the fake transcripts that allowed him to enter this school.

"What?!"

The loud voice shook him from his thoughts. _Oh geez did I say that out loud?_ He considered hitting himself with the notebook before him. _Way to blow it Jaune_. "What do you mean someone made some form of structure within school grounds?"

_What?_

"I don't know how sloths got so far away from their usual habitat or why there are enough pancakes to feed all of Vale, and frankly I don't want to know. I just want you to move it somewhere less… in the middle of the school courtyard!" Yelled Goodwitch as she stormed past the classroom.

Jaune sighed in relief, _really dodged a bullet there_. For a second he thought he blew his cover. Remembering the events from last night Jaune turned to his energetic teammate, hopefully she didn't take the removal of her sloth structure too hard.  
Before he could check up on her, however, he caught the gazes of Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha and Ren. Though mainly Weiss. "See something you like Snow Angel?" he grinned. The heiress merely scoffed at his attempt and turned away. Pyrrha glared at the apparent object of Jaune's affections whilst the two more silent members hastily averted their gaze, realising that they had been staring at him for almost the entirety of the class, and also due to slight embarrassment from getting caught from _Jaune_ of all people.

Blake shrugged, _an enigma is an enigma I guess_. Looking to her left she saw that Ruby and Yang were out cold, having little to no interest in non-Huntress related things. She giggled when she saw that Ruby was snuggling into her sister's shoulder, the young reaper must be one of those people who cuddle things in their sleep. The cute moment was quickly ripped to shreds and her small amusement was immediately replaced by pure, unadulterated fear as she saw that a few drops of Ruby's drool landed on Yang's hair.  
_We're all screwed_. She thought with finality.

Ren on the other hand was trying everything he could to stop Nora from crying. The Valkyrie was absolutely heartbroken from the news that her hard work would be relocated. "Don't worry Nora, they're just relocating the sloths. They aren't destroying it." He reassured her. It was to no avail unfortunately as the girl continued to sniffle uncontrollably.

"But, if the sloths don't get the love and attention they would from being in plain sight, they'll die!" She wailed. Ren chuckled as he comforted her, lightly petting her head.

The class finally ended with Jaune being thrown out of the window as Ruby blamed the drool in Yang's hair on him, despite him being in the row before them. "So we have a free subject now, right?" asked Jaune as he crawled back into the classroom through the shattered window nonchalantly. Ren nodded affirmatively. "Now what?"

"We do what we want." Grinned Nora, back to her usual happy self thanks to her partner. "If you need Ren or I, we'll be outside making a new sloth enclosure."

Her childhood friend blinked. "We will?"

"Yes Ren. We will." Jaune happily ignored Ren mouthing for help as he turned to Pyrrha and Team RWBY.

"So what are you gals doing?" he asked as he stretched his back.

Ruby shrugged, "I'm just going to head to the school forge to do my weekly check-up on Crescent Rose." She felt giddy at the idea of finally spending some quality time with her baby.

"Yang and I are going to the library to read." Stated Blake, who didn't appear too happy that her partner was coming with her.

Pyrrha looked at the boy apologetically, "Weiss asked if I could spar with her, so we'll be heading to the arena." Jaune sighed, that left him by himself.

Really there were only three things he would want to do in the middle of the day, head to Vale, read books or sleep. Unfortunately they had another class after lunch so the former and latter options were unavailable. He might as well head over to the library to read, and what better way was there to test your writing than to read over it?

Nodding, he decided to follow Blake and Yang to the library, oblivious to Pyrrha and Ruby's envious looks as they watched the knight walk off with the bookworm and the brawler.  
"So what books do you normally read Blake?" he asked in an attempt to alleviate the silence between the three as they walked.

The girl shrugged, "Not really sure myself, just a mix of anything I suppose."

Yang grinned, "But you love reading those Jane Caur books don't you?" Jaune flew into an abrupt coughing fit as he heard the name. "Wow Vomit Boy, don't have an episode on us now I just had a shower." Jaune gave her a weak glare as he recovered and sighed,

"What about you? What books do you read?"

Yang shrugged, "I don't normally read, but the Jane Caur books are great." The knight quickly fell into another coughing fit. _Great, just great_, he groaned mentally.

"R-really?" he stuttered. "What are your favourites?"

Yang thought back to the several dozen books she had read… in the last two days. She pouted mentally, she was a fast reader okay! Wait, who was she pouting to? Quickly throwing away the idea that she was crazy Yang answered. "It's hard to say, but the 'Monogatari' Series was really interesting." Blake raised a brow at the blond girl.

"Personally I enjoyed 'Ninja's of Love', though 'Monogatari' was also good in it's own right. I loved how Jane portrayed the characters in a new way within the two." Jaune chuckled; he had enlisted his sister's help with those books. He did enjoy writing the 'Monogatari Series' though, that and 'Ninja's of Love' were some of the only novels he had made a series of sequels out of.

Yang grinned at her fellow blond, "I never knew you read books Jaune, wouldn't have taken you as a bookish type."

Jaune shot her a look, "I could say the same thing about you."

"Touché."

The three shared a laugh as they walked while Jaune put up a thinking pose. Which of his books did he enjoy the most? "Honestly, I liked 'Crescent Moon'. It was probably my favourite wri-read." He started to sweat as Yang gave him a strange look, did she catch onto him saying write by accident? It felt strange trying to talk to a fan about his books, without saying that he was the one who wrote them.

"Wait, by 'Crescent Moon' do you mean _the_ 'Crescent Moon'? The one that is known as the best, yet worst of Jane's works?" Jaune shrugged sheepishly and grinned, hiding his clenched fists.

"What can I say? Romance stories are my guilty pleasure." The writer's smile hid his displeasure. 'Crescent Moon was the first, and only, story he got to write with his sister Luna as she was always busy. He loved all of his other sisters, but this one was special to him. The story itself was amazing, the way the characters were portrayed and the plot was impeccable. However, it didn't follow the feel of Jane's previous stories, as if someone else entirely had written it. Critics felt that the novel was lacking in several parts and ended up giving it the title 'Best, yet worst'.

Blake shrugged and smiled at the knight, patting his shoulder comfortingly. "We like what we like because _we_ like it, not because other people tell us to. I won't judge if your opinion goes against mine." Jaune chuckled as he flashed a smile at the introvert.

"'Ninja's of Love' Book 2, page 249, spoken by Satoshi?" Blake's eyes widened.

"Wow, you're good." She commented. _He knows a single quote on the exact page of the exact book from the certain character, out of all of Jane Caur's books?_ She thought in awe at the boy's memory.

Jaune was mentally scoffing, of course he knew what page and who it was spoken by, he wrote it! What kind of author would he be if he couldn't recall his own story? It also helped that his semblance made it almost impossible for him to forget some things. Rubbing his back sheepishly, Jaune responded. "I just really like her books."

Yang raised a brow at the blond knight; her interest peaked by his surprising amount of knowledge. "So how long have you been reading Jane's books for?"

Jaune gave her another 'are you kidding me?' look. "That's pretty irrelevant considering you've only been reading them for the past three days."

The brawler pouted rather uncharacteristically. "I'm a fast reader!"

Blake chose that moment to stop their fighting before it escalated to Jaune being sent through a couple of walls. "You guys do realise we've arrived right?" Jaune blinked as he stared at the entrance before him blankly. So they have.

Gazing around the library he found the girl he had conversed with the previous day. "Hello Amethyst!" he greeted the young librarian happily as the three entered. Yang smiled cheekily as she saw the girl.

"Ooh, and who might this be?" she asked as she sauntered over to the purple haired girl.

The librarian smiled warmly at her. "My name is Amethyst, I'm Beacon's librarian." She answered.

Yang smirked, "And how exactly do you know Vomit Boy here?" Jaune tripped over himself as he approached the two.

"Vomit Boy?" Giggled Amethyst.

Jaune quickly recovered, "It's a long story." He grumbled.

The librarian nodded understandingly and answered the boxer's question. "I met Jaune just yesterday, he came in for some light studying and I directed him to the best corner to do so." Blake thought back to the conversation she saw Jaune have with the librarian. _So _that's_ what he was doing_, she thought to herself.

"Well then Amethyst, it's nice to meet you. I'm a friend of Jaune, the name's Yang, but you can call me the sexiest gal in school. The silent one over there is my partner Blake." The overenthusiastic girl leaned closer to the new face and whispered just loud enough for their group to hear. In other words not quiet at all. "Don't worry, she may seem cold and indifferent, but on the inside she's just an adorable ball of sensitive fluff." The introvert gave her a glare, to which the buxom blond responded to by poking her tongue at the black haired girl.

Amethyst and Jaune chuckled at the two's interactions. "Well any friend of Jaune's is a friend of mine." The librarian smiled as she shook the two's hands.  
Once introductions finished the three left the girl to do what she normally does.

* * *

Jaune sighed as he sat in silence, two beauties sat on either side of him reading his books. Curse his teenage hormones, they should have gone away by now… Right? He frowned, that was probably his D- in biology talking. But that's beside the point. The point is, that it was taking every fibre of his being not to sneak a look at Yang's rather, _generous_ show. He felt his heartbeat steadily rise through the roof as he struggled not to look. She's apparently one of his fans so that was a positive and a negative in itself.

In his attempts to turn away from the 'dark side', Jaune decided to try and find things around the room that would distract him. Why he didn't just read one of the thousands of books surrounding him was unknown to all. Slowly scanning the surprisingly empty library his eyes fell upon the shelves upon shelves of books. In the midst of his worrying and the stress of the first few days, he had forgotten one of the four major reasons for why he had come to Beacon in the first place. To gather first hand data on the inner workings of a school as prestigious as this and live the life of a school student for one thing, and one thing only: research for more novels and novellas.

Continuing his rather pleasant scan of the room his eyes came in contact with the light purple eyes of Amethyst. He waved kindly to her as she caught his gaze and returned the gesture. Now that he thought about it, he could probably write a good short story centred around a library and based upon a kind yet timid librarian. He grinned as his semblance activated of it's own will, _next story is underway_, he thought amusedly. After thinking for a moment he came to the conclusion that he needed more information and watched the librarian's every movement intently. He examined every movement of her slender arms, watched as she sorted through countless numbers of forms and worked on her scroll. He absentmindedly took into account her clothing, a summer dress that was a light shade of blue, with a large white ribbon running around her waist. The hem of the dress reached her knees and was decorated with small floral patterns that were a lovely dark purple, a similar shade to that of her long hair which was cascading gracefully down her back and stopped just below the curvature of her spine. Finally, sat loosely on her nose was a pair of square, black-framed glasses that accentuated her rather unique eye colour.

He nodded to himself, _character noted, I'll have to tag her later_. The knight smiled. Blake gave him a strange look as he snapped out of his trance, the small glow of his eyes fading. "You've been staring at the librarian for the past ten minutes with a grin on your face, you sure you two didn't do anything?" she asked.

"Wah? O-of course n-not! We… We only met yesterday!" he stammered. Blake couldn't help but giggle at the knight's blushing and stutters of denial; it was pretty amusing. Unfortunately for the embarrassed boy Yang decided to have some fun.

"So Jaune, when will it be my turn to be ogled?" she teased. The two beauties knew that the boy would be too embarrassed to do anything of the sort based on his reactions, but it was still fun to torment him. Yang used her 'assets' to her advantage as she leaned on his arm. "Don't take too long." She winked suggestively. Blake in the meantime was having a hard time not falling from her seat because of how hard she was laughing inwardly. Normally she would be rather indifferent, but her calm demeanour was immediately shattered by the hilarity that was Jaune's shy stutters of denial. For a boy who claimed that romance novels were his 'guilty pleasure', he was easily embarrassed when it came to the real thing.

Jaune flushed in embarrassment as Yang continuously teased him, and Blake's giggles did not help the matter. His eyes scanned the room for a way out of the buxom blond's torment and came upon Amethyst once more. 'Help me' he mouthed as Yang pressed her 'assets' further. Amethyst laughed and shook her head, this was hilarious. Jaune gave the librarian a horrified and betrayed look as Blake decided to join in as well. "Do you think Amethyst won't mind if I have a shot?" She giggled as the boy turned to her in surprise, other than Weiss, Blake was the last person he would've thought would join in with Yang's teasing. Not being able to take the attack from both sides Jaune fainted.

"Wow, he actually fainted." Commented the black haired girl. Yang sweatdropped at the knight as she felt around for his breath.

"He's definitely out cold. Think we were too hard on him?" She asked.

Blake sighed, "Maybe a little bit." Amethyst walked in on the two partners as they poked the unconscious boy.

"So how's sleeping beauty?" she asked as she sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Yang chuckled, "We may have been a little bit too much." The librarian giggled at the poor boy.

"A little? He was mouthing to me for help."

"And you didn't help him?"

The purple haired girl smiled sheepishly, "It's a bit hard when their being glomped to death. Besides, it was amusing to see him struggle." The three girls shared a laugh.

"So Amethyst, what's a cute young woman like you doing working as a librarian at Beacon?" Asked Yang. The girl laughed at the question.

"Well you see…" The three spent the entirety of their free period talking about their interests, likes, dislikes and pasts, and found their chat rather enjoyable. After hitting it off the two members of Team RWBY exchanged their scroll numbers with the young librarian and bid farewell. However, before they could leave the table the three received an email simultaneously.

Suddenly Yang squealed excitedly as she read the message, Amethyst and, surprisingly enough, Blake repeating her actions. The very sound coming off of the three girls caught the attentions of all the people within the library and a large number of students outside, even going so far as to wake Jaune from his comatose state. "Jane Caur is going to be coming to Vale this weekend for a book signing!" cried the blond boxer and the purple haired librarian as they hugged. Even Blake seemed uncharacteristically ecstatic. Jaune froze.

_Wait, what?_

* * *

**And that is that ladies and gentlemen! Once again, sorry for my lateness with this but something came up. I will be trying to keep to my usual schedule of one-two weeks per update from now on. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and continue reading this little story of mine, and do please lend me your feedback through a review or a PM. It will do wonders for my self-esteem and it might just help me become a better writer for you guys.**

**Don't have much else to say other than Follow, Favourite and Review. See you guys next time!**

**Anyone who can guess all the references to things gets a ticket to Nora's Sloth and Pancake Emporium's grand reopening!**


	6. Chapter 6- Friendships

**Hello there, I'm back with a new chapter and boy is this one going to be funny. Hopefully.  
Thanks to everyone for the praise, it makes me feel like my small story is really making people laugh.  
Anyway I'll just move onto the review answering section and I have to say, some were pretty interesting.**

**garoorar: **Of course. Unfortunately this wont be a 'bust the impersonator' arc at the moment, but it may be something that happens in the future.

**CrazyTrollR49: **I feel your pain, but it had to be done.

**lukefang: **It's called bad acting, I was doing it as a joke but it appears that it went right over your head. Why did you think I added the nervous laughter? And Ruby may have feelings for Jaune, so may Weiss, however he will only be ending up with one girl by the end of the story and my mind has already been made up on whom.

**Guest (Guest): **Yes. Yes it could. But you guys don't know it's full capabilities *insert evil laughter here*

**Guest (Guest):** If only you knew hahaha... If only you knew.

**Drow79:** If only those things would work, Jaune might have been safe from the inevitable.

**Benthino:** And here I deliver! This chapter will hopefully be in accordance to your tastes.

**Twisted Fate MK 2:** Thank you for the praise! I really appreciate it.

**Cloy552:** *maniacal laughter*, challenge accepted!

**workeranomalie: **Thank you!

**Ranger Station Charlie:** You'll love what will be happening…

**code R.R:** Re-read to your hearts content, I'm glad you like it.

**OnTheCobb (Guest):** Jaune with secrets is always a good Jaune.

**jakillking999:** Yes. Yes it should.

**Kirkman: **It will be fun for everyone except Jaune… for the most part.

**dracohalo117:** It's stated in the last chapter that research is one of four reasons Jaune came to Beacon, and research is a pretty important reason in itself.  
Also, it's interesting that you believe the editor is the one who set that up. Not saying you're wrong or right, but interesting. Unless, of course, you meant to say publisher and not editor.

**ZeroHuman:** No sloths were hurt in the making of this story. Otherwise Nora would kill me.

**Well that's all the reviews so far, thanks for the positive reviews! Hopefully I'll keep doing well enough to warrant them.**

**With that done, disclaimer then story!  
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any mentioned franchises as they belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Frendships

Jaune was mentally strangling himself in an attempt to stay awake and sane. _Why?_ The word was repeated several times over in his mind ever since he had been told of the events to come. The blond knight had spent the majority of their lunch break after the free period stupefied from the bomb that had been dropped by Yang, Blake and Amethyst. Jane Caur was going to be in Vale? His stomach fell at the thought. The writer shook his head vigorously. Now was not the time to think about this, he needed to pay attention to Professor Port so he could learn. Even _if_ his stories were boring. He was sat next to Ruby in the leftmost part of the middle row, his team sat before him whilst Ruby's team were spread out around the two leaders with Blake sitting next to Ruby, and Weiss and Yang sitting behind the two.

"There I was, deep within the Forever Fall Forest with only my wit and my bare hands. My weapon was long gone, delving in the depths of some fearsome creature's stomach." Gloated the teacher as he paced around the room proudly. "Before me stood dozens of Beowolves, Ursai and a Grimm who, to that very day, was believed to be extinct. In spite of this, I managed to find it, capture it and take it to a taxidermist so that they may create a statue of similar appearance before I slayed it. The process of capturing it, however, proved to be quite tiresome and lengthy, especially so due to the vast amount of Grimm that appeared to congregate towards it." The man laughed heartily as he continued, "Why, I remember when…" The Arc's attempts of staying awake were in vain, he was asleep by the time Port had said 'Forever Fall'.

"I had managed to evade the Ursa's swipe by rolling to the right, but it had landed a strike on the tree behind me, leaving a large gash that sprayed the sap within all over me. The large quantity and stickiness of the sap began to restrain me as the Grimm surrounded me." Yang, although immensely disturbed by the mental image of Professor Port covered in sap, laughed.

"Sounds like a pretty 'sticky' situation!" The entire class groaned at her horrible joke, save for Jaune and Ruby who were asleep and the professor himself as he had not realised that it was supposed to be a joke.

"That it was Miss Xiao Long, that it was. Now, where was I?"

Yang frowned as she analysed the reactions of the class, writing her findings on a small notebook as she did so. "You're still on that?" asked Weiss perplexedly. Sure she was curious as to whose sense of humour was horrible enough to laugh at one of Yang's terrible jokes, but the buxom blond was taking things a bit too far. Said blond glared at the heiress determinedly.

"I won't stop until the person has been found!" She exclaimed, passionately shaking her fist to emphasise the point. The members of Team RWBY and JNPR that were still awake and not Yang felt sorry for the poor student or teacher who had laughed at her pun. They had no idea what they had gotten themselves into.

The rest of the Grimm Studies class was relatively uneventful. Well, as uneventful as a class with Nora could be anyway. To this day, Pyrrha had no clue how that girl managed to make her pen explode the day prior during a short study session between the team. Upon finishing the class, however, the main event had become Jaune and Ruby. The two had somehow managed to end up cuddling each other in their sleep and wouldn't let go, or at least Ruby wouldn't. For a girl two years their junior, she had a pretty tight grip. This was all much to the displeasure of Pyrrha, Weiss and Yang. Needless to say, Yang, the overprotective older sister that she is, had sent the poor boy through a wall. Ren sighed as he watched his leader get a rather rude awakening, hopefully this wouldn't become a thing. He had grown to like Jaune as his first male friend, and didn't want to lose his only way of counteracting Nora's recent bouts of insanity. Being a leader apparently gave the blond boy control over the sloth loving female.

Back to the situation at hand, no one answered the knight when he had asked why she punched him into next week lest they incur the wrath of Yang. They didn't know _why_ exactly the girl didn't want him to know, as it was pretty trivial, but no one wanted to take their chances. "Yang, seriously, why did you hit me?" asked Jaune as he walked up to his fellow blond. "Did I do something to anger you?" The writer was distraught, he thought he had made things even with the boxer. They even had that friendly conversation on the way to the library, but apparently he was mistaken if that hole in the wall was anything to go by.

The girl huffed. "I don't want to talk about it." She mentally frowned. Sure she didn't like the idea that he was hugging her sister, but there was no reason to keep that from him. So why was she?

Jaune turned to his partner with a pleading expression on his face, "Pyrrha do you know?" He asked her hopefully. The Spartan girl turned away with her arms crossed.

"I don't have the faintest clue." She lied. The boy sighed, _what did I do to make Yang dislike me? Even Pyrrha seems to be disappointed!_ Just when he had started to become good friends with the two as well.

Ruby smiled at her fellow leader. "Don't worry Jaune, I'll help! We have a short break right now anyway." Jaune's face adopted a look of relief. Maybe with Ruby's help he'd be able to figure out what he had done to get sent through the wall, it was good to get another perspective on an issue and he didn't want to make enemies so early in the year. Especially when that enemy could have been a potential friend.

Jaune turned to his partner for permission but was stopped from asking by her smile. "Go ahead, you don't need my permission." Jaune nodded.

Ren and Blake rolled their eyes at the oblivious boy. "Poor Pyrrha." Sighed the bookworm. She didn't see what the champion saw in him, especially only after a couple of days knowing the boy. Ren however, smiled knowingly at the scene. It was obvious, to him at least, the feelings that several of his new friends have for his leader, nearly to the point of it being painful for him to watch the knight not realise it. He chuckled amusedly as he watched Ruby and Jaune walk out the door as Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha gave them conflicting stares. Ignorance is bliss after all.

Yang gave the boy a death stare as he walked out of the room. He may be her friend and fellow Jane Caur enthusiast, but no one would charm Ruby without her permission.  
Weiss was just fairly annoyed by her younger leader. Yesterday she had said she would try and become a better leader, and Weiss had said that she would become a better… friend, but cuddling with some dunce like Jaune when she should be paying attention to the professor is in no way becoming a better leader. The heiress inhaled slowly and sighed. Maybe she should be more lenient with the girl. She was, after all, two years younger than her. As much as she disliked the notion of having someone so immature as her leader, she would just have to deal with it and be there for her when she was needed.  
Pyrrha on the other hand was having conflicting feelings. She had taken a liking to the blond knight because of his ignorance, but now she couldn't help but despise his obliviousness. The red haired girl had only known him for a couple of days, yet he was already able to bring out so many emotions from her that, in all her years of dealing with fans and news reporters, she had never encountered before. Sighing to herself, she decided to let the cards fall where they may and just cross the bridge when she got to it. Who knows, one day he might just realise.

Suddenly, Ren gasped. "No, wait, Nora! Don't put that there!" Not even a moment later the occupants of the room stared in shock at the Valkyrie as her pen exploded and splattered pancake batter over those nearest to her.

The girl giggled innocently, "Whoopsie."

* * *

Ruby grinned as she walked through the halls of Beacon alongside her first friend here. This was her chance to turn Jaune into a _best_ friend; she wasn't going to mess it up. To her right, Jaune was contemplating deeply whilst they exited the school and entered the outside gardens just shy of Nora's new sloth parlour. "So what do you think Ruby?" The knight asked suddenly.

Ruby responded with as much thought and grace as she could muster. "Huh?" was her oh-so-wise reply. _Nice job Ruby, you nailed that_. She thought sarcastically.

Jaune seemed to pay it no mind and continued. "About the whole situation, Yang and Pyrrha seem annoyed at me and I have no idea why." The young reaper gave it some thought as they strolled up to a small bench within the garden. Behind the oak bench was a rather large tree that provided shelter and shade with its outstretched canopy.

"Well if I know Yang, and I do because I'm her sister, she'd only get truly angry at a handful of things." She started. This type of anger is different to the usual rage she gets during fights. It's the whole stereotypical 'I'm angry at you so I'm not going to tell you why or talk to you, because you should know what you've done' type anger. "She only gets really angry if someone messes with her hair, messes with me, harms her friends, is sexier than her or ruins something that she was interested in." Jaune blinked.

"Could you go into a bit more detail?" If he was going to make it up to his fellow blond he'd need to find out what he had done wrong, and fast. Then he would be able to try fix his relationship with Pyrrha. The leader of Team JNPR sat down with a loud and depressed sigh, basking in the comfort that the bench was providing him.

The young reaper followed suit and sat next to him, pulling out a box of cookies from a non-existent pocket to snack on as they talked. "Well you've already seen how mad Yang gets when someone wrecks her hair or does something to me. It's like that when she's _really _mad but worse because she doesn't do anything about it. Also if something hurts her friends she gets rather upset. And if she sees that someone is sexier than her without trying, she tends to get annoyed as well. No clue why though. Lastly, if Yang has taken up even a remote interest in someone or something, say a movie or a book, then she gets pretty violent if someone does something bad to it or spoils it for her." She explained. Jaune 'ahh'd' in understanding. He thought back to events earlier within the day. He didn't believe he had harmed her hair or any of her friends lately, discounting events during initiation and the first day he hadn't done anything bad to Ruby and he sure as dust wasn't sexier than her. So what was the problem?

He gasped, what if he had spoiled a Jane Caur book in his sleep? His sisters always did say that he talked in his sleep. Ruby brought him out of his musings by offering him a cookie. The writer smiled at her, "Thanks." Sighing to himself, he decided to just leave it be and hopefully Yang would calm down on her own. If he accidentally spoiled a book there was nothing he could do about it. Jaune frowned; he hated how he couldn't do anything. The guilt from angering one of his friends would not leave him.

Ruby, seeing his guilt from a mile away, decided to pick up the conversation again. "So… We have Combat Class now right? Our first one?" The knight nodded unenthusiastically. "What's up? Aren't you excited about learning how to fight?"

Jaune turned to her with an uncharacteristically serious expression, "Well, I never really liked fighting, other people that is." Ruby stared at his sad face and saw the boy in a new light. "I think it's counterproductive, really. We're all in the same boat, so why not work together against the Grimm?" The writer looked ahead passionately in determination. "That's why I came to Beacon. I didn't come to learn how to fight, I came here so I could be taught how to protect those close to me." Not that he'd say it out loud, but it was also the original reason as to why he wrote his stories. Ones where the 'good guys' band together to fight off the 'bad guys' and eventually receive a happy ending. He smiled slightly, it's hard to believe that a childish fantasy was what led to him becoming a well known author. He had written romance novels to show others that two people, no matter the time or circumstance, could come together and be there for each other. He believed that if he could get people together by writing his stories, make friends, then it was all worth it. The smut came later on down the track, say about one or two months later... One of his more 'body appreciative' sisters stumbled upon a story of his and added it without his knowledge, leading to a large influx of readers.

Jaune stared blankly at Ruby as she started clapping. "That's the spirit!" She cheered, happy that he was out of his funk. "You just need to remember why you came here, why you want to get stronger, and you're sure to become friends with Yang and Pyrrha again."

"You really think so?"

The younger student giggled at his hopeful expression, it was like a puppy asking for treats. "I know so!" She exclaimed confidently, "Now come on Vomit Boy, let's go to our next class!"

Jaune laughed, "I would be so inspired right now if you didn't just call me Vomit Boy!" Cheered Jaune sarcastically.

Ruby just responded by bonking her head comically and poking her tongue out. "Tehe~"

* * *

As the two entered the room their friends immediately surrounded them. "So where exactly were you two?" queried Weiss, resting her hands on her hips in a motherly fashion. "You both were a couple of seconds away from being late!" She scolded. Ruby stared apologetically at the heiress.

"I'm sorry Weiss." The rest of the group excluding Jaune had to step away slightly from the sheer adorableness emanating off of the younger girl. The blond writer laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry as well Snow Angel- Weiss." He quickly amended his apology when the white haired girl pointed Myrtenaster threateningly at him. "We were just having a short talk outside." He explained. The girl just nodded slowly with narrowed eyes, seemingly accepting his explanation.

Before anyone else could talk Professor Goodwitch addressed the students within the room. "Students, welcome to your first Combat Class of the year. We will start off with a few warm ups and stretches before we move onto team practice. We will then finish off the lesson with one-on-one sparring matches." The students cheered, happy with the knowledge that some of them would be able to show off their fighting prowess.

Jaune sighed, the warm ups and stretches he was fine with, but he was a little uncomfortable with leading his team. Especially since Pyrrha didn't exactly seem too happy with him earlier. Nora smiled at her leader, "So fearless leader, what is our game plan?" she asked him as she hefted her hammer. The knight shrugged uncertainly,

"I'm not sure, what is required of us?" he asked his only male friend at Beacon.

"We are required to create a set of commands that will help us ascertain where we should be at what time for the following situations: Fighting a melee enemy, disarming a ranged enemy, taking down a flying enemy and fighting a heavily armoured foe." Stated Ren. Jaune nodded his thanks.

"Alright then, first off I will need to know your strengths and weakness', your preferred style of fighting and at least one trick you have up your sleeve. I will allow you to keep an ace in the possibility that we may end up sparring at one point. I will go first." The rest of Team JNPR watched in awe as Jaune went into what would later be referred to as, 'Commander Mode'. Gone was the unsure bumbling knight. Here stood a confident leader that was ready to provide his team the path to victory. "My strengths are that I have a large amount of aura, however I am inexperienced in using it and I don't exactly have the best one-on-one combat skills. I prefer to take the hits for my comrades whilst they take out the enemy and I have no tricks up my sleeve… Uh, your turn Nora."

The Valkyrie giggled and bounced before her teammates. "Well my strength is the sheer firepower of Magnhild. I'd say my weakness is the slowness of my attacks. I like to rush in and fight carefree and I don't have any aces. Your turn Renny!" The normally silent boy smiled at his childhood friend.

"My strength would be my relative speed. Nowhere near Blake's but still better than most. I also am very good at controlling my aura, but I do not have that high stamina. I prefer to fight in a group as one heavy hit could be enough to take out close to a third of my aura and my ace is my aura techniques." Explained the boy. He turned to the final member of Team JNPR who had been silent the entire time, "You're up Miss Nikos." He said politely. The Spartan girl appeared to be slightly distracted as she spoke.

"My strength would have to be the flexibility of my weapons, whereas my weakness would be attacks that can overcome my flexibility of defence, be it speed, number or strength of the attacks. I don't have any preferred fighting style as mine is more suited to changing as the fight does, I have unlocked my semblance but I'd prefer to keep it secret." Jaune nodded slowly as he took all of the information in. The team leader was about to speak when suddenly Goodwitch coughed loudly to catch the class' attention.

"Students, I believe that was ample time for you to have started a base for your strategies. Completing your commands is now homework that must be handed in via the scroll of your team leader a week from now. I will then assess them on the efficiency, clarity and thought that had been put into it." The huntsman and huntresses in training groaned at the idea of homework. Their dissatisfied groans were instantly transformed into high-fives and cheers as if by magic with the witch's next statement. "We will now move onto one-on-one fights to finish off the lesson. First up, Jaune Arc and Ruby Rose." The rose gave the knight a thumbs up as she walked onto the stage. Jaune jumped in surprise as a hand found it's way onto his shoulder. To his surprise, Pyrrha was smiling at him comfortingly.

"Do your best Jaune." She cheered. Jaune's eyes nearly watered happily.

"You mean you're not angry at me anymore?" he sniffled childishly. The champion tilted her head in confusion.

"What would I be mad at you for?" Jaune laughed,

"Oh, it's nothing anymore if you're not mad. I'm just glad that I haven't upset you, I wouldn't know what to do without you." Pyrrha blushed as the writer happily got onto the stage. _He wouldn't know what to do without me?_ She repeated in her mind.

Goodwitch was stood in the middle of the two students ready to spar with her right hand raised. "On my word, you two will start and not a moment before." She spoke sternly, "Ready… Begin!" As quick as a flash Ruby dashed towards Jaune who just gazed at the teacher blankly.

"Wait, was that the word?" The only answer he received was a cute reaper's scythe to the chest.

* * *

The fight had went surprisingly well and quickly if you discounted the fact that Ruby, a girl two years younger than him, had mopped the floor with him.  
Literally, there had been a point during the short fight where his hood got caught on the reaper's scythe and she dragged him along the ground like a janitor.

After the rest of the spars had ended the class was dismissed for the rest of the day, so the students were free to do as they pleased, within reason of course.

Right now, the tired knight was resting in his shared dorm room whilst Pyrrha fanned his exhausted and beaten body. He was relieved that his partner wasn't angry with him because he really had no clue what he'd do without her. Suddenly, Yang burst into the room with Blake casually following behind her in a much more silent manner. Jaune would've jumped in surprise but he currently had no feeling in his legs… or arms… or anywhere really for that matter.

"Yo Lady Killer what's up?" grinned the blond brawler with a rather slow gait. "You wanna hit up the city with Blake and I this weekend?" Jaune, seeing it as an opportunity to make up for whatever he had done to incur her wrath during Grimm Studies, was about to accept when he remembered something important.

He smiled apologetically with the small amount of energy he had remaining. "I'm really sorry Yang, but I have something I need to do on the weekend." Luckily for the champion in the room no one notice her sigh with relief. The party girl shrugged,

"Oh well, I guess I get to have Blake all to myself." The bookworm glared at her.

"I'm not something you can just possess!" she pouted uncharacteristically. Yang just took the glare with stride.

"Keep telling that to yourself Blakey, but you're mine." She winked and strut out of the room.

The three occupants of the room fell silent at the overbearing nature of the buxom blond. That's when Jaune remembered something about Blake, "Hey Blake, can I ask you a question?"

The girl tilted her head slightly for a moment then shrugged, "Go for it." She mentally scratched her head in confusion, what exactly did she do that warranted a question from the clumsy knight?

"Why did you vaguely quote Gurren Laggan, backflip off a tree then run off when we first met?" The girl nearly fell over in surprise at the unexpected question. _Oh, that's what I did_.

"W-well, you see… It was a dare from a friend! Yeah, that's it. A dare…" She finished off meekly. There was no way that she was going to tell him that she, in her introverted state of mind, turned to a manga for information on how to talk to others. The result was… Embarrassing to say the least.

The black haired girl quickly decided to change the subject. "So what are you doing during the weekend that made you so busy you conveniently couldn't hang out with Yang?" She asked Jaune with a smirk. The knight just waved it off,

"I genuinely have something to do that's preventing me from coming with you two. I'm visiting an old friend of mine so that I could have a little _word_ with her." He finished off rather angrily. The three occupants stared in shock as Yang burst through a wall,

"Her?" the blond asked, "You aren't just sneaking a date with Amethyst behind our backs are you?" she grinned. Jaune just stared at the Yang-sized hole in the wall horrified. "No answer huh? Well I'll leave you to your planning. Let's go Blake! Sorry I forgot to grab you before." The, now, two occupants left in the room watched as the boxer towed a struggling Blake away.

Pyrrha blinked, as much as she wanted to ask about this 'Amethyst' person, there was currently a hole in the wall. "I'll go get Ren so you two can fix that." Muttered the red haired girl as she quickly exited the room through the door like a normal, non-Yang person.

Not even a second after his partner had left Professor Goodwitch poked her head through the gaping hole in the wall and glared at the only person within the room. "Mr Arc, you will be seeing me this Friday for detention. No excuses." She snapped before flicking her crop. The small tool glowed for a moment whilst the wall quickly re-shaped itself. Nodding, not that Jaune could see her anymore, the female professor left.

"Fantastic." Groaned the knight sarcastically. He currently was too tired to move, was alone and now had a detention to attend. At the very least, it wasn't on the weekend so he was still free for the event happening. What was going to happen anyway? He'd have to contact his publisher, or at least ask her before the event personally. After an hour of resting and wondering why Pyrrha had not returned yet Jaune set out to find a way to relieve his boredom. The hour of waiting had brought the feeling back to his body. It was starting to get late, but he didn't feel sleepy at the moment.

Exiting the room in search of something fun, Jaune came across an interesting sight that he'd never forget for the rest of his life. Before him stood a rather livid Weiss, an embarrassed Ruby and Blake covered in syrup of the maple variety and Nora standing victoriously on top of a stack of giant pancakes. Upon closer inspection of the fluffy breakfast meal he realised that Yang and Ren were buried under them while Pyrrha was fervently trying to dig them out. Quickly taking a picture with his scroll for future reference, the blond writer walked off with an 'I saw nothing' smile on his face.  
"Nope!" he muttered. On second thought, sleep sounded awfully nice at the moment.

* * *

Jaune frowned as he approached the door to Professor Goodwitch's office. He stared it down for a few minutes. The day had gone by absurdly quickly, to the point where it did not feel fair. It felt like not even five seconds had passed since the previous night's shenanigans concerning Nora's pile of giant pancakes. He had received an apology from Pyrrha for taking so long in obtaining Ren to fix the wall and the silent boy had also apologized for Nora's actions. Nora wasn't sorry for what she did, the pancakes looked and tasted amazing, even if some of them smelt like Yang and Ren. The apologizing doubled when Jaune explained the situation of his detention to them, which left a rather flustered knight to deal with all the attention of the class when his two teammates got on their knees and bowed before him to repent.

The boy continued to gaze at the door blankly as he thought. As much as Jaune wanted to, he couldn't skip past his detention. It may not have been his fault, and he didn't even get a chance to explain what had happened, but an Arc never goes back on their word and takes everything in stride. Besides, if he told the truth then Yang would've gotten into trouble instead, and he felt that was unfair even if it was technically correct.

Jaune slapped himself weakly. Now was not the time to be stalling. He had to accept what was coming to him for the actions he did not commit. Slowly reaching for the doorknob he flinched back when Goodwitch suddenly swung it open, nearly nailing him in the face in the process. "Ah, right on time Mr. Arc, you and Cardin will be accompanying me to the arena." Jaune stared at her in confusion. _Why the arena?_ As if catching his blank stare the witch elaborated on her previous statement. "During a few instances in initiation and your rather _short_ match with Ms Rose, you appeared to be less than adequate with your fighting skills. As such, you will be having a sparring match with Cardin here, who oh-so-kindly volunteered by ruining another student's workbook, to determine your battle prowess." Jaune mentally groaned, _great, just great_.

Quickly thinking of an excuse, the knight rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry Miss Glynn- uh Goodwitch, but can we postpone the sparring match to another time? Maybe during a Combat Class?" He apologized. "I came here thinking that I would be able to do a less aura-taxing activity as I have something important to do that would require me to be at full aura capacity." The woman looked him over for a few moments, trying to search for any hints of lying. The great thing about being an author is that he can weave intricate, and believable, lies that can easily get him out of trouble. And writing books really helps one learn how to remember what they've told others in order not to contradict a previous statement.

Goodwitch nodded, "Alright then Mr Arc, we can continue this on Monday's lesson. However, you will need to prove to me that your skills are adequate enough to stay in my class. You may take your leave. As for you Mr Winchester, you will come with me to the library where you will rewrite all of the notes in that workbook until I am satisfied that it is neat and legible. Failure to make it so will result in you having to do it again." Jaune felt sorry for the young man but he probably brought it on himself. He frowned at the retreating figure of Glynda Goodwitch. Whether or not the strict teacher had believed him was yet to be revealed, but she did let him off the hook for now. Bidding his farewells to the witch and the poor leader of Team CRDL, he walked off to find someone to teach him how to fight properly. Or at least show him how to do a battle stance.

Jaune always found that meandering the halls of Beacon close to dusk was always relaxing. Unfortunately he had no time to be wandering aimlessly as he had something to do today because he would be occupied the entire weekend.  
Casually strolling through the halls a rather breathtaking sight, well, took his breath away. An unequivocally beautiful woman was standing close to the edge of the roof as she gazed out to the surprisingly distant towers of Beacon. Her long, deep red hair was in stark contrast to that of the night sky, illuminated by the green glow of the remote towers before her. The clothes she wore were that of the Beacon uniform, showing the red haired beauty was a student of the school. He blushed a smidge when he saw how the clothes accentuated her voluptuous form, and hot dust those legs! The mysterious woman was facing away from him so her facial features were obscured from his view, but he noticed the golden tiara-like headpiece she wore along with the green trinkets on the golden chains that came off of it. _Beautiful_ he thought to himself, nearly saying it out loud. Before he knew it, Jaune found himself slowly walking over to the girl, pen writing every detail against his will as he brought out his trusty pocket notebook; entranced by the alluring student.

From the way she was standing, the girl almost reminded him of- "Pyrrha?"

The girl jumped and turned around, revealing that she was indeed his partner. "Jaune? What brings you here?" The knight smiled his lady killer grin followed by a mock shocked look.

"Do I really need a reason to spend some time with my beautiful partner?" The tease went straight to the champion's heart as it soared. The girl blushed a similar shade to her dazzling hair. Oblivious to his partner's joy, Jaune realised that this was a perfect chance for someone to teach him how to stand properly whilst fighting. After all, Pyrrha had told him how to wield Crocea Mors during initiation and she did have a similar weapon. He nodded, "On a serious note though, I came for some tips on using Crocea Mors." The red haired beauty blinked confusedly.

"How did you know I'd be up here?"

Jaune shrugged, "Maybe I just unconsciously wandered over to you?" The girl's blush deepened. Sure it was cheesy, but she could tell he was sincere with his words. Most of them at least. The blond writer smiled sheepishly at her, "Either way, I'm here now and I can't see me being anywhere else." He really needed this training if he was to pass Goodwitch's upcoming assessment on his fighting skills.

"W-well, of-of course. I'd be happy to teach you Jaune." _Alone, where no one can bother us, training together… and did I mention alone?_ She mentally swooned. Jaune grinned, unsuspecting of her inward cheering. He'd have to make it up to his partner somehow, but for now they would train.  
Pyrrha nodded to herself. _This is my chance to show Jaune my good points_, she thought. Unknown to the champion, the writer had just observed quite a bit of her good points a few minutes prior. In great detail. She sighed, it had surprised her just how quickly she had fallen for the blond knight. In fact, she had never fallen in love before so she wasn't even sure if that was what she was feeling for him. All she knew was that she had felt something, and wanted to see it through.

Quickly smiling at her partner after a small pep talk to herself, she spoke. "So what would you like to know?" Queried the red beauty. Jaune laughed nervously.

"Well, for starters…"

* * *

**Wow. This is twice now that I've turned what was originally one chapter into two. So, sorry but I might drone on for a bit with this A/N 'cause I have a bit to say.**

**Now for those who remember (It wasn't that long ago) I hadn't updated for three weeks when I said I wouldn't take more than two weeks to update. That was because I had something **_**incredibly**_** important to do. But now that I have done that I am open for the next two weeks to binge-write as much as I want. So as long as nothing else comes up expect at least four chapters over the next fortnight, not including this one!**

**Also, I'd just like to tell you wonderful readers out there just how much I adore you guys and gals for reading and enjoying this story of mine. I mean, five chapters and (as of now) 280 Followers and 209 Favourites? You guys are awesome!**

**This chapter was mostly filler, but slightly informational as it gave short descriptions of how everyone viewed Jaune as of present and how relations have grown slightly. It also outlines another one of Jaune's reasons for coming to Beacon and other small plot devices that I won't go into.  
If you didn't notice these, or are just too lazy to go back and find them, I'll make a list of how everyone views Jaune at the moment if you ask nicely. Or guess **_**all**_** the references correctly for this chapter.**

**For those who didn't realise, I have been dropping **_**really**_** subtle references to things since chapter 1. Some of them aren't even general Anime, Books, Games, Fan Drawings or Fanfics but actual trivia for RWBY.  
For example, with this sentence in Chapter 2: Teammates  
**_Nora shrugged, "it's hard to think up a name for her." _**  
It was a reference to Monty who said on his Twitter:  
**_Tidbit: Blake's name was the hardest to come up with. Belladonna was going to be her 1st name but didn't feel sharp enough for her character.  
_**I don't just say I put references in for show. They may be so obscure that no one would be able to find them ever without being told, or so blatant that they're actually part of the story, but they're there nonetheless.**

**With that said, first person that can guess a certain reference to something gets a special mention by Jane Caur and everyone else gets a stack of Nora's giant pancakes!**


	7. Chapter 7- LittleMissPublisher

**Hello my awesome readers! I'm back with the next chapter of my story. I don't have much to say other than hope you guys enjoy, and if you do, please Follow, Favourite and leave a review.**

**Onto review answering!**

**Gilgamesh The King of Heroes:** Jaune's just that kind of guy, nice to the core. He also thinks that he did something to piss off Yang, so getting her in trouble would have been counterproductive to his attempts of making things up to her. Doesn't mean he won't be getting his revenge with another method though...

**Eramis8: **There is no escape for Jaune, *Insert evil laughter here*.

**Benthino:** Thank you for the praise! This chapter will have quite a few comedic moments that you will hopefully find delicious!

**dracohalo117: **Well, it probably won't be as complicated as you'd think. The answer's pretty simple.

**Guest (Guest):** The ship will be what the ship will be. Although there were bits of Rose Arc/Lancaster/Lunar Rose/You get the point and Arkos, there haven't been any indications on whether Jaune is crushing on someone yet and wont be for a while to come, maybe.

**Jake V. Steele:** Wow great guess! That was the reference I was looking for. Well, I say reference but it was more of a blunt shout out. I really love Fanart stories for RWBY 'cause they're just so creative.

**Tri4ceAwesomeness:** Thanks! The Sai reference was actually a reference I didn't realise someone would get, so congrats to you! Unfortunately it wasn't the one I was looking for, but hey, Giant Pancake consolation prize!

**Cloy552:** Too late, the challenge has already been accepted! Muahahahaha!  
And thanks for the praise.

**Kirkman:** That made me laugh, and thanks!

**CrazyTrollR49: **Yeah, to me the image of Ruby cuddling anything is cute. That's why I made her one of those people who cuddle whatever's closest in their sleep.

**OnTheCobb (Guest): **Congratulations, you have solved the secret of the universe. Have a cookie.

**DarkElucidator:** Fair enough.

**Drow79:** It would be very hilarious, but you'll have to wait to see.

**Isodrink:** Thanks for the praise, but if you think it's going to be a love pentagon then wait 'till other characters are introduced! Though unfortunately for them Jaune will only be ending up with one.

**Nero The Insane:** Thanks, action will more than likely happen in the next chapter.

**That's it for the reviews, so onto the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: RWBY and all mentioned franchises or references to other works do not belong to me, they belong to their respected owners.**

* * *

Chapter 7: LittleMissPublisher

The next morning found Jaune hastily sneaking out of his dorm room en route to the early morning airship to Vale. The sun had only just risen past the small city and could barely be seen over the horizon in the middle of nowhere towards the sea. As with all mornings the birds were singing and the fresh morning dew was apparent. In his haste Jaune nearly slipped over said dew, but managed to make it on board without a scratch. The blond couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief as he entered the ship seemingly unnoticed. As he waited for the ship to leave he sent a quick text message to his publisher in order to tell her that he would be coming to see her. Last time he had come without messaging her prior he had walked in on her walking around in the nude whilst trying to locate her clothes. It didn't end well.

Jaune: We need to talk.

Not even moments after he had sent the message he received a reply, as if she was waiting for the text.

LittleMissPublisher: I was just about to call you. we can meet at my office and then we can head to the café next to the place youll be signing books at

LittleMissPublisher: ill answer all of your questions there

Jaune grew a tick mark as he cringed at the woman's use of grammar. This was why he disliked texting her. It always felt like she was going out of her way to make blatant grammatical errors in order to annoy him.

Meanwhile within Vale, a woman was slowly savouring some ice cream within her small office whilst she read a rather colourful reply from her cute little author. She smirked happily; satisfied with the knowledge that Jaune was more than likely getting annoyed from her constant grammatical mistakes. She did not do them on purpose of course. That would be mean, and there was no way she would be mean to her cute little author.

Back at the airship, Jaune was prepping himself for the long journey ahead of him after sending his thoughts on his publisher's annoying mannerism. He sighed, it wasn't too long of a trip to Vale via airship, but there was one factor that he had nearly forgotten about until now, his motion sickness. Holding back another sigh Jaune sat down. This was going to be one hell of a ride.

* * *

The trip to Vale had gone surprisingly well. Jaune had almost managed to last the whole flight without vomiting, almost. Upon exiting the vehicle from his nightmares Jaune was treated to the sight of a bustling, early morning Vale. Restaurants were in a hurry to get supplies ready for breakfast, shops opened their windows and doors with open arms, and all sorts of different businesses got ready for the day as the early Saturday shoppers walked about the streets in search of their morning coffee. The blond writer took in a large breath of air to steady himself and remove the smell of vomit from his lungs, replacing it with the much more pleasant smell of cinnamon buns from the bakery to his right.

After a brief moments respite Jaune set off to his publisher's office, careful not to get lost again. Taking several lefts and rights within the winding roads Jaune eventually found the place he was looking for. When he had first found the building he was curious as to why she had chosen to have it next to an ice cream parlour. Now that he knew her better, he understood why.

Checking his surrounding carefully to ensure that he hadn't been followed, he entered the building.

"Neo? You here?" he called out. As his voice finished echoing through the eerily quiet building his only answer came in the form of a door at the end of the wooden corridor opening. Not wanting to keep a lady waiting, Jaune walked briskly over to the room and entered, making sure to knock. "You're decent right?" he asked as he hesitantly uncovered his eyes.  
The knight gazed at the office impressed. Every single time he had come over, the room was completely different from the last time, and with it never being decorated the same twice.

The inside of the room was quite small, similar to that of it's only occupant- Jaune's thought's were interrupted as the small woman leaped over the desk before her and roughly grasped his hand. The blond writer's eyes flashed brightly as she glared at him.

'_You just said that I was small didn't you!?'_ She shouted at him. He stared directly at her mismatched eyes and decided that there was only one thing he could do.

"Of course not!" He lied. The woman smacked him over the head mercilessly despite being practically half his size, eliciting a loud yelp of pain from the boy.

'_I can hear your thoughts when we're connected, remember? Or do I have to hit you again to help the process?'_

Jaune laughed nervously, he had forgotten that detail. The connection wasn't just one way. "R-right. Well, uh, you're looking good as always?" He complimented. Kind of.

'_Flattery will get you nowhere.'_ She snapped. A faint tinge of pink on her cheeks as she rolled her eyes betrayed her true thoughts, not that Jaune noticed. The young man laughed nervously once more and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Right. So why did you-" Neo stopped him mid-sentence by pushing her finger onto his lips with a coy expression.

'_I thought I told you I'd answer your questions at the café?'_ She teased. Jaune smiled at the woman and ruffled her pink, brown and white hair playfully.

"That you did." He laughed. His publisher glared menacingly at him as she pouted.

'_You are _so_ going to pay for this in the near future.'_ She threatened. He waved the ice cream themed woman's threat off with a laugh.

The writer scoffed, "I'd like to see you try." The two joined together in a bout of laughter and Neo offered him a seat. The two sat on opposite sides of the publisher's desk as Jaune poured himself a cup of water from the water tank to his left.

Gazing aimlessly around the small room Jaune's eyes gravitated towards a picture frame on Neo's desk that had not been there in all the previous times he had been here, and he's been here a lot of times. On it was Roman, her surrogate father figure, Neo and what appeared to be a smaller Neo, if that was even possible. "Your sister looks cute in this picture." He commented offhandedly.

Neo just grinned evilly and smugly tapped him on the forehead as he took a conveniently large sip from his water. _'Thanks, I'll tell my little brother that.'_ Jaune spit out the water he had been drinking and flushed in embarrassment. Neo took it a step further, _'If you want I can set a date up for you.'_

The knight chuckled, "Thanks, but I prefer my ice cream without nuts."

Back at Beacon Yang couldn't help but grin as she entered the next airship to Vale. "I don't know why, but it feels like someone just pulled off an awesome joke." The bookworm next to her just rolled her eyes at her partner.

Neo burst out in 'laughter' at Jaune's little joke. Smiling, the blond writer extended his hand out to his publisher in a posh manner. "Well milady, I think we should get going before I make an even bigger fool of myself." The ice cream themed lady 'giggled' at his action.

'_My, what a gentleman.'_ She teased as she grasped his open palm. Jaune chuckled and pulled her closer to him, linking his arm with hers in one smooth movement. The boy took pleasure from her surprised expression, grinning the trademark Arc grin.

"Come on Little Miss Publisher, we have a date to attend." After getting over her initial surprise the shorter girl smirked and nodded. With that done, the two exited Neo's office with their arms linked. Unknown to the blond knight, a man and a young child had seen the entire interaction between the two.  
The child stared in awe as the door closed behind the two. "Big sis is amazing!" the young child gasped. "She managed to get such a talented writer to work for her!"

The older of the two was less than enthused. "I don't care much money that boy makes me, he is dead." With a reluctant and defeated sigh, he went on to editing the boy's latest masterpiece; making sure that any and all mistakes were eliminated. If there was something the orange haired man was good at, it was taking out anything unneeded or unwanted. Well, that and stealing whilst looking stylish.

* * *

Half an hour later the team of publisher and writer had taken a seat at a small café next to the library where Jane Caur would be signing books not too long from now. "So Neo, what exactly will I be doing?" He asked her as he took a sip from his hot chocolate. The knight sighed contently; white hot chocolate was the best.

The ice cream lover gave him a pointed look, _'You'll be signing books.'_ She stated simply.

Jaune frowned, "Okay… How long will the event be going for? No- Wait, why didn't you just get Lily to do it like always?" He questioned the short- erm, younger _looking_ woman as she inhaled her third bowl of ice cream.

'_It will go on for the entire weekend from 10am-4pm. Also, your eldest sister was busy for the weekend so that's why you have to fill in.'_

Jaune nodded slowly and took in the information. "So how exactly will I 'fill in'?" He asked curiously. Unfortunately for the writer, Neo had been waiting for this exact question. Not even bothering to hold in her internal glee she answered him.

'_Fast acting karma for earlier this morning, that's how.' _She smiled as she turned to the waitress to receive her fourth bowl of ice cream. Jaune watched perplexedly as the woman let go of his hand to devour her frozen treat, breaking their link. _What is that woman planning?_ He wondered, blissfully ignorant of the waitress droning on about how cute it was that a couple was holding hands in public to some random man waiting for his breakfast. She was immediately silenced as Neo gave her a death glare over the tip of her bowl.

* * *

The blond writer's eyes twitched as he walked out of the back room in the Library… In a dress and a long blond wig. "Well played Neo. Well played." He spoke in defeat. This was retribution for calling the woman short. Walking over to the table where he would be signing books and meeting fans the writer came across Neo, who was looking smugly at him, and another woman. The boy dressed as a woman began to sweat as he approached the two, _There is no way this is going to work, there is no way this is going to work- _He thought to himself repeatedly.

The woman next to his publisher smiled, "Hello there Jane, I'm just here for a quick interview before the book signing starts. It won't take long as I'd hate to take the time away from your many, _many_ fans here in Vale." True to her word, there were large amounts of people standing in front of the library, humans and Faunus alike. It brought a smile to 'Jane's' face. "So, I'm going to ask you a couple of quick questions and then I would like to record you mentioning a fan of yours who won a small competition of ours. Concerning the questions I will be asking you, the first three are to break the ice and more than likely won't be published, but the last few I would like you to answer as honestly as you can." 'Jane' nodded.

_Holy dust it actually worked._ The writer thought to 'herself'.

The reporter smiled warmly at the young 'woman', "Ok, so first off: How old are you?"

'Jane's' face twitched uncomfortably as 'she' answered in the girliest voice 'she' could muster. "Twenty seven." It was surprisingly good. If you didn't know beforehand, or were actively trying to tell the difference, you'd never have guessed that the beautiful, yet awkward, lady was actually a young man.

"But you look so young!" Gasped the reporter as she leaned in closer to the young 'woman'. "What's your secret?" 'Jane' blushed at the close contact with the rather beautiful reporter who was giving the writer a rather generous look at her assets. _Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down._ 'She' chanted.

"U-uh… Good genes?" 'She' stuttered out nervously. It wasn't a lie, 'her' mother looked like she was _younger_ than 'her'.

The reporter sat back and fixed her clothing as well as her posture as she cleared her throat in embarrassment. "R-right, um, back to the questions. Which of your books did you enjoy writing the most?"

'Jane' sighed in relief, hopefully the other questions would be like this. "Easy, Crescent Moon." The older woman raised a brow but continued on.

"Ok, final ice breaker question." 'Jane' smiled at her,

"Shoot," 'she' gestured to continue.

"Do you have someone you like?" The young 'woman' nearly did a spit take.

"E-excuse me?" 'She' gasped. The reporter chuckled.

"C'mon we're all women here. You write rather _adult-centred_ novels and novellas, so it would only make sense that you'd be interested in a special someone." Neo leaned in closer curiously and smirked.

The disguised knight laughed nervously, "I, um, haven't really thought about it…"

The black haired reporter winked knowingly, "_Sure_. Well, onto the actual questions. Why did you begin to write these books eight-ish years ago?" 'Jane' smiled professionally, time for the _real_ questions.

"Well it started off with a dream I had from childhood where the world was peaceful. No Grimm, no suspicion of war, no separation of human and Faunus, nothing. As a young child I had some rather, for lack of a better word, childish ideals that were pretty optimistic for the world we live in currently." The writer paused to see that the reporter was absolutely rapt with 'her' story and wasn't even taking notes. 'She' chuckled, "From there I turned into a young teen, then a young adult and still had the same delusions as I had before, but now I had found a way to translate those ideals into actions. I began writing stories. One's where the good guys _always_ came together at the end and triumphed over evil. At first, no one paid any mind to my stories other than family and my publisher over there, but over the small space of a single year people slowly became aware of the books and actually started to _enjoy_ them. It was from then that I started to write stories not because it was a good way to receive a high amount of income, but because I believed that these small books had the power to achieve my childish ideals of a Remnant with no war." Neo smiled sadly at the boy in a dress. _If only it was that simple_.

The reporter wiped her eyes, "So why did you begin to write romance novels then?" 'Jane' smiled,

"Isn't it obvious? Because two people coming together and being there for each other, no matter the time, place or circumstance, is beautiful. If I could get people together and make friends, and not enemies, by writing my stories then that is also achieving my rather optimistic, childish dreams."

The reporter gasped as she gazed at the time, "Oh, dear. It appears we've taken more time than we should have. Um, Jane, would you please read this out as sincerely as you can?" The black haired woman asked as she brought out a recording camera from… somewhere. 'Jane' nodded and grabbed the piece of paper the reporter handed to 'her'.

"I would like to give a shout out to… Jake V. Steele? For winning the small competition you win five free Jane Caur novels of your choice and a box of cookies that will arrive at an undetermined date." 'Jane's' eye twitched slightly, _that's pretty sketchy_. 'She' thought. "Once again, I would like to congratulate Jake V. Steele for winning. Runners-ups will receive a consolation prize and all those who entered will get a participation reward. These prizes are to be decided at a later date." _Ok, this is _really _sketchy now_. The reporter seemed to notice 'her' thoughts and laughed as she stopped recording.

"I know it probably sounds untrustworthy, but it _was_ a pretty small competition that just happened one day during a convention." 'Jane' blinked.

"They have conventions at Vale?" The reporter nodded as she packed up her things.

"Yep, you should search them up. Some of them are pretty big. Anyway, thanks for answering all my questions." The writer smiled back at the woman.

"Anytime." With that, the reporter took her leave and let in the flood of fans that had been waiting outside. "Oh boy this is going to take a while…" 'She' muttered under 'her' breath as Neo smiled smugly to 'her' right.

The boy pretending to be a female sent a message to the publisher by grasping her hand. 'So, a dress, wig and strange-smelling perfume can fool a person, but what about a Faunus? Don't they have, like, sense-hacks or something and can smell male pheromones, or hear inconsistencies in your voice, or tell your thoughts by using your heartbeat?" Neo just rolled her eyes.

'_While they do have enhanced senses they don't have 'sense-hacks'. It's similar to animals so they won't be able to tell the difference unless they're actively trying, and even then you're wearing a special scent-blocking perfume. It also works on your semblance when you use it to enhance your senses because they're basically on par with a Faunus.'_ Jaune nodded in slight understanding. _'Also, I could tell that for whatever reason you were being 'in character'. Stop, you're making it too obvious that you're trying to be like your sister.'_ Jaune laughed, so she could tell huh?

* * *

Jaune's eyes wandered around the room as he signed random books that he had written. Initially he had felt bad that he wasn't even paying attention to the excited fans, but after spending at least four hours doing the same thing over and over, hearing the same thing over and over, he had the right to be bored. _How did Lily deal with this each time?_ He groaned inwardly as he signed another copy of 'RWBYsaurus Sir Lyserg: Tales of the Gentleman Utahraptor' and 'To Sapphire with love'. "Oh my dust it's really you!" They'd say, "Nice to meet you." He'd reply politely, it was fairly repetitive. Really all Jaune wanted right now was something different.

"Look Blake, it's actually her!" Squealed a rather excited young woman. Jaune swore colourfully in his head.

"I can see that Yang." Stated her equally excited friend, although she did a better job at hiding it. Jaune blinked, next to them was Amethyst, Beacon's young librarian. He could not believe his luck. Neo put her hand on his exposed shoulder as she noticed the look on his face.

'_Friends of yours?'_ She asked.

Jaune rolled his eyes, _You don't know the half of it…_

"Hi Jane, I'm Yang and this is Blake." Introduced the blond female before him.

"H-hi." Stuttered the usually composed bookworm. _There went doing a better job at hiding it_.

"And over there is Amethyst."

The librarian smiled shyly. "Hello." She greeted. Jaune inwardly smiled, he didn't know that Amethyst was a fan of his. The writer smiled warmly at the three girls.

"Nice to meet you three. I take it you're avid readers?" Yang nodded and forced the black haired girl next to her to nod as well. Jaune chuckled; who knew that standing in front of a person of great importance, to Blake at least, would reduce the calm introvert into a stuttering mess? He mentally grinned as he turned to Yang, _time for a bit of revenge, for both the teasing at the library and the whole wall-destroying thing_. "So how long have you three been reading my books for?" Asked the writer with a polite tone of voice. The roles of the three girls before him reversed as Yang froze up while Blake and Amethyst answered proudly.

"Seven years." Blake smiled proudly, puffing her chest out. Jaune gasped and smiled.

"Glad to know that someone has been reading my books since close to the beginning. If I may ask, how old are you?"

"Seventeen." Jaune blinked in mock confusion.

"If memory serves right, a lot of my books back then weren't exactly 'child friendly'." He 'muttered' to himself just loud enough for the three girls and Neo to overhear. The black haired girl blushed a deep shade of red at hearing his 'private' thought. Amethyst, deciding to cover for her new friend, then answered.

"Six years." She smiled.

Jaune nodded, "And what about _you_ Miss Yang, how long have you been reading my books?" He queried. "Of course, if your two friends here have read them for so many years it would only make sense that you would have read them for a similar amount no?" The blond writer laughed evilly within his head as the two girls squirmed uncomfortably and muttered incoherent excuses. Leaving Amethyst, the only calm one of the three, to fan them in an attempt to cool them down.  
Neo, on the other hand, was rather amused and intrigued by the knight. She had never seen this side of him before, and to be honest it interested her slightly. Nevertheless, she had a job to do. She 'glared' at Jaune mockingly.

'_I think you've tormented the two girls enough, you've had your fun.'_ She 'berated'. Jaune chuckled.

"Perhaps you're right." The writer turned to the two squirming girls and the one trying to calm them down. "So what books did you three want me to sign for you?" They snapped out of their embarrassment-induced state and each reached for their respective books. Jaune smiled as he realised one more thing he could do. "Hold on a moment girls, could you hold out your hands a moment? I would like to see something." He spoke, holding out his hand. The boy in a dress grasped their hands as they held them out. Smirking inwardly, he spoke. "I believe that the books you'll be getting signed are…" Pausing for dramatic effect, and so he could prepare himself for the looks on their faces, Jaune's eyes unnoticeably flashed. He turned to gaze at the faces of the girls as he mentioned them. "Ninja's of Love for Miss Blake over there, Knightshade for Miss Amethyst and…" He blinked in confusion at Yang. "Kaori's Diary and Crescent Moon?" He asked in pure surprise. He didn't expect Yang to get his favourite book signed for him. The boy felt a little guilty for making the two squirm.

Meanwhile Amethyst, Yang and Blake were trying to recover from a huge mind blow. _How did she know what books we'd be bringing to sign? She's literally written hundreds of different books!_ Gaped the three as they handed the author their books. After signing the four books and handing them back Jaune turned to Yang curiously. "So, Miss Yang. Why did you bring two books to sign?" The blond bombshell gave the blond writer a grin.

"Why not?" He chuckled at the girl's statement.

"That is a fair point. Well then, it's been a pleasure talking with you Miss Yang, Miss Blake, Miss Amethyst. I wish you a safe trip home." The three fans giggled.

"Bye Jane!" Shouted Yang happily as they walked out of the building. Jaune frowned while he watched the girls exit and sighed. He'd have to make up for teasing them somehow.

* * *

After signing dust knows how many books until 4:00 Jaune now had dinner with Neo as her way of making it up to him for having to do this last minute. The two were sat at a relatively empty restaurant. Neo smirked as she watched Jaune order for her and the waiter call him whipped. After watching a rather annoyed Jaune finish of his own order she decided to tease him a little. Jaune blushed and nearly gasped audibly when he felt Neo's exposed foot touch his leg.

'_So how come, in all the years we've known each other, you haven't tagged me yet?'_ She asked curiously. Jaune laughed nervously,

"That's because I felt it would've been rude to write a story including you when you're my publisher." The ice cream loving woman smiled,

'_And yet you tagged one of your friends?'_ Neo snickered at Jaune's next thought, _'Oho, half of your current friends?'_ Jaune frowned.

"Hey, some of them were accidents!" He cried, but Neo didn't appear to care and just gave him a look.

'_Only some?'_ The knight sighed; there was just no one-upping this woman was there? The ice cream lover grinned, _'Nope.'_

The rest of the dinner was thankfully uneventful and was just spent with the usual chatter as the two talked about things from business to favourite flavours of ice cream. Soon the clock struck 6 and the team of writer and publisher had to part ways or else Jaune would miss the last flight back to Beacon. "I'll see you later then, Little Miss Publisher." He grinned as he did an overly dramatic bow and lightly kissed the fingertips of the woman. "'Till we meet again." He smirked. Neo couldn't help but burst into 'laughter' at the young man's overdramatic performance.

'_So long, but you owe me another ice cream.'_ Jaune blinked.

"For what?" He asked confused.

'_For the kiss on the fingers of course!' _She stated matter-of-factly. The knight rolled his eyes,

"Please, you aren't _that_ special."

'_Says the one who got knocked out from being smothered too much. In fact, I'm surprised you didn't get lost in Vale again.'_

"How did you know I got smothered into unconsciousness? Wait- I only got lost once and you know it!" He exclaimed defensively, waving his arms to emphasise his statement. Before Neo could retort the loudspeakers above them crackled to life.

"Final call for the last airship! Final call!" Announced the voice that echoed from the device. Neo smiled at the boy,

'_You'd better head off to wherever.'_ Jaune nodded and quickly ran on board.

Neo smiled wistfully at the blond writer as he boarded the airship. She'd never admit it to his face, but she actually looked forward to every meeting they had. To be perfectly honest, most of it just came from the satisfaction of not having to use sign language, writing or other mediums to communicate since she preferred not to talk. So actually speaking to someone, albeit telepathically, felt freeing. However, that wasn't the only reason she enjoyed being around boy and she knew it. The publisher frowned as she walked away, she could only hope that her father's partner's future plans wouldn't hurt her cute little author.

* * *

Jaune sighed, after enduring a nearly vomit free airship ride, the knight had finally made it back to Beacon. He smiled as he rounded the corner and saw Blake, Yang and Amethyst. "So how was meeting Jane?" He asked the three.

Amethyst gave him a confused look, "How did you know we went to go see Jane Caur? And how did you know I went with them?" She asked curiously. She hadn't seen the boy all day, so how did he possibly know?

Jaune faked a rather believable surprised expression. "You went with them?"

"…"

"Also, it's obvious that Yang and Blake are big fans of Jane Caur, I mean I had a whole talk about it with them. And when Yang asked me if I wanted to go into Vale with her and Blake after I found out that Jane would be there I kind of just assumed…" He trailed off 'embarrassed'.

Yang smirked, "At any rate, it was awesome. Shame you couldn't be there Vomit Boy." Jaune nodded sadly,

The knight sighed, "Well I guess I was just unlucky I couldn't go with you three then. I really wanted to see if she could sign my favourite book too."

Yang grinned, "Funny you mention that actually. I have a signed copy of Crescent Moon right here." She pulled out the book from… Somewhere. Jaune 'gasped',

"Is that for me?" He asked hopefully.

Yang's grin widened, "Depends, what will you give me in return?"

Jaune blinked. "I don't really have anything."

"Well then, looks like you'll have to find something to trade for it." With that she skipped off.

_I change my mind, I no longer feel guilty about tormenting her as Jane_. Meanwhile Amethyst and Blake were staring at the quickly disappearing figure of Yang in confusion. Earlier today the girl seemed adamant about getting Jaune's favourite book signed for him because she felt bad about him not being able to go, going so far as to buy a new book because none of them had a spare. So what changed?

Little did they know, around the corner Yang was mentally berating herself. _Why did I do that?_ She thought. Why was she always so weird around the knight? What made him different from all the other men who tried to court her? The buxom blond sighed, she'd sort out her thoughts later. Now was time for some beauty sleep.

* * *

Jaune yawned as he entered Nora's Pancake Bar. He had no clue why she kept changing the name, but at the moment he didn't care. It was nearly 8pm and he had spent the entire day dealing with boredom. The Valkyrie grinned as Jaune sat down at the bar. "What would you like sir?" She asked whilst wiping a pair of glasses with a cloth. The knight stared at her in confusion,

"Nora. Why are you wearing a fake moustache while cleaning someone's glasses?" The girl laughed,

"Isn't it obvious Jaune-Jaune Arc? I'm a bartender! They always have moustaches and are wiping glasses!" The boy facepalmed, wrong glasses.

"Right. Well, I'll have a large pancake for two please. Oh, and a white hot chocolate please!" He ordered. Nora nodded but tilted her head slightly,

"But aren't you alone right now? Also, why're your eyes glowing?" Jaune shrugged, leave it to Nora to notice his semblance.

"Allergies? And I'm not alone right now. Someone's following me." The hammer-wielder nodded slowly. She was just a bartender so she had no say in what the customer did. Speaking of which-

"How tender do you want your chocolate bar?" Jaune blinked.

"I, um, what?" Nora rolled her eyes as if the answer was obvious.

"I've told you already, I'm a bar-tender! I tenderize bars!" She stated rather annoyed, "Get with the program Jaune-Jaune Arc."

"I… don't think it works like that. And wouldn't it be bar tender-er?" He mumbled. The knight blinked as he heard Ren's voice echo from behind the kitchen window.

"Just go with it. That's the best way to deal with her." He commented. Jaune sighed, he was way too tired for this.

"Uh, can I just have it… as a bar?" He asked slowly. The bar-tender grinned,

"One non-tender bar of chocolate coming up. Also, Renny we have an order of two-slothcakes with a warm snow sloth drink!"

"Nora, I have no idea what that means!" Called out the boy from the kitchen. The blond writer chuckled; those two were definitely his teammates. Now to deal with the person following him.

"So why exactly have you been following me?" He asked curiously as he spun around to confront his stalker. To his surprise it was Blake.

Blake felt rather annoyed as she sat next to the clumsy knight. The girl prided herself on her speed and stealth capabilities so how did _Jaune_ of all people manage to pick up on the fact that she was following him? Jaune smiled, "I bet you're wondering how I knew you were following me huh?" The bookworm nodded. "Well, I'll tell you if you answer a question for me." The black haired girl frowned,

"Depends on the question." If he was able to notice her following him, did that mean he knew other things about her?

"What's your cup size?" Blake cracked her knuckles.

"Care to explain?" Jaune thought about what he said for a moment before laughing,

"Sorry, you'll have to excuse my mistake. I'm not exactly in the best of minds right now." Blake rolled her eyes, _I can see that._ "Well, what size drink do you want?"

"What?"

"What size drink? According to this brochure, anyone from Team JNPR can eat and drink for free, so I want to treat you to something." He explained, "And I thought that you'd like some white hot chocolate." The introvert tilted her head in confusion,

"White… hot chocolate?" Jaune grinned,

"Yeah, it's like regular hot chocolate, except it uses white chocolate instead. Don't tell me you've never heard of it?" Blake shook her head. Everyone present in the bar turned to the blond knight as he began to yell. "Ren, Nora, JNPR's special white hot chocolate stat!" Before the girl could blink a cup the size of a football was placed before her, filled to the brim with an interesting-smelling white liquid. She turned to Jaune confused but was confronted with him smiling in anticipation for her thoughts. "Go ahead!" He urged her as he gestured towards the cup. Blake frowned as she glanced between Jaune's expecting face and the strangely large cup of molten white chocolate with milk.

The girl hesitantly licked the drink to get an idea of its general heat. _Warm_, she thought to herself. Slowly the young woman took a sip from the drink.  
Then another.  
And another.  
Jaune, finding her small reoccurring sips to be funny, was unable to stifle his amusement in time and burst out in laughter, much to the embarrassment of the black haired girl. The knight's laughter increased tenfold once he realised she had a milk-moustache, however his laughter stopped instantly when Blake kicked over his chair whilst pouting. "Not fair!" He grumbled as he rubbed his head.

Upon looking up Jaune fell speechless at the scene before him. "How exactly did you finish that so quickly?" He gaped. The girl glared at him as he got back onto his seat.

"You tell _no one _about this." She growled. Nodding quickly to avoid the immense pain her eyes promised, Jaune smiled as the pancakes arrived with his white hot chocolate and untendered chocolate bar. A second before he could dig into his half of the meal he heard a quiet whimper from next to him. Turning to face Blake he was blown back by the most adorable look of longing he had ever seen, and he had seven sisters and knew Ruby!

"I-if you want, you can have som-" As quick as Nora on sugar, the black haired female drained the cup. "I didn't even finish my sentence…" He mumbled to no one in particular. After a pregnant pause the two burst into laughter. Jaune blinked as he noticed that Blake still had milk on her face. Quickly going into his doting brother mode the knight grabbed a cloth and wiped the milk off. The bookworm blushed as the brother to seven wiped her face.

"I, uh, Jaune?" The blond blushed a similar shade to the girl next to him as he realised what he was doing.

"S-sorry." He apologised, "I've always wiped food off of my sisters' faces after a meal, so it's become second nature after all these years." The black haired girl nodded slowly, still blushing.

"How many sisters do you have?" Jaune laughed,

"Seven." If Blake still had her white hot chocolate she would've done a spit take.

"_Seven?_" She gasped. Jaune however just nodded as if he was used to people reacting that way.

He smiled nostalgically, "Yeah seven, four older, two younger and one my age. There was one time where Lily, the oldest of us, had the _largest_ piece of pudding possible on her nose and…"

After half an hour of small talk between Blake and Jaune, Nora grinned at her leader, "How are the lovers enjoying their meal?" She asked the two as she served Blake her fourth white hot chocolate. Jaune blushed,

"Nora!" He cried, "It's not like that, and we've only known each other for a week." The black haired girl nodded along as she downed the drink offered to her in one go. Jaune laughed, she reminded him of Neo. As per usual, the laughter earned him an embarrassed punch to the shoulder from Blake. The bar-tender raised a brow, not believing his statement.

"But you two have been talking with each other and exchanging physical contact like you've known the other since childhood! And trust me, I should know." Jaune rolled his eyes,

"Please, I would know if Blake was a childhood friend or not. I only had one friend as a kid because of my protective sisters, and he was a male Faunus." Blake twitched subtly at the mention of Faunus. _Jaune was friends with a Faunus as a child?_ She wondered.

"You were friends with a Faunus?" She repeated aloud. Jaune frowned at her,

"Do you have something against Faunus, the Faunus, Faunus', Fauni, Faun- you get the point." The bookworm shook her head smiling,

"No, not at all. So what happened to him?" She asked curiously. The knight just shrugged and sighed, wistfully staring out the window to his left.

"No clue. He just up and left one day without even a word of goodbye. To this day I still worry that something might've happened to him."

The black haired woman smiled warmly at the boy who had shared a lot about his personal life with her in the past hour. If only she could do the same. "You'll probably meet again one day." She consoled him, patting his shoulder comfortingly. Blake frowned as she looked at the time, "I'm going to have to head back to my dorm room soon so… I guess I'll see you around?" Jaune smiled back at the girl,

"Yeah, Nora's Pancake Bar is about to close soon anyway, so I'll see you later." Nora just smiled at the awkward goodbye. It was always funny watching introverts interact, not that she'd ever tell anyone. With their awkward farewells done, the two left the bar. Unfortunately for them their dorm rooms were literally across the hall from each other so it made for an embarrassing trip back.

Blake, upon entering her room, slapped herself in the face as she realised something important. She had completely forgotten about why she had followed Jaune in the first place, and she also managed to forget that he was supposed to tell her how he knew she was following him. Groaning as she entered her personal bed Blake decided to leave it to a later date.

Jaune sighed in relief as he entered his empty dorm room. That had been embarrassing. He had completely forgotten that their rooms were so close when he had said goodbye so they had spent the entire walk in silence, blushing as they looked in the opposite direction from the other. Though despite the awkwardness of the farewell, Jaune was happy. He had, hopefully, made another friend here at Beacon, and he could only hope that he'd make plenty more. Sure he was friends with all of Team JNPR, but with Team RWBY he was only friends with Ruby and now Blake. He wasn't sure about Yang and Weiss sure as dust hated his guts. Before he could think more about the subject the lights of his room flickered on as Pyrrha spun around on a swivel chair in the middle of the room. "Jaune, where exactly have you been the last five hours? I thought your ship came back at four?" She interrogated him, eyes narrowed. The boy laughed nervously at his partner. _Oh boy…_

* * *

**And that is it! Originally because this used to be one chapter with the previous one I was worried that this might be too short, so I added that final scene with Blake. However, I kind of got carried away with it and now this has become the longest chapter so far so… Your welcome?  
Sorry that I didn't make Neo the dangerously sexy little minx she's usually portrayed as, but I thought this would work better with what I have planned, and I definitely didn't make Neo have a trap younger brother just so I could incorporate that joke… *Insert nervous laughter here* Definitely not.  
Also, we hit 300 Follows! Thank you guys and gals so much for the support, you're all so awesome.**

**And a bit of Jaune's semblance tease within the chapter as well.**

**So, thank you wonderful readers for enjoying my story and get excited for the next chapter, which will begin the Jaunedice/Forever Fall arcs.  
If you enjoyed the chapter don't be afraid to Favourite, Follow and review!  
**

**Anyone who can guess a specific reference gets a white hot chocolate so you can watch your nearest Blake drink it in an adorable manner.**


	8. Chapter 8- Bully Problems

**Hello my wonderful readers, I hope you're enjoying the story. I'm back with the next chapter of Jaune's Guilty Pleasure! I still don't have much to say other than thank you guys and gals for reading my story, and if you really enjoyed it please Favourite, Follow and leave a review.**

**Onto Reviews!**

**NinjaFang1331:** Thanks!

**Heatrules:** Yeah, I incorporated him into the story because of a challenge presented by a reader.

**SwordfofallCreation:** Although interesting, you'll have to wait to see if your guesses are correct.

**Cant Catch This:** The whole childhood friend thing _was _indeed a reference to something, but I can't exactly say due to the fact that… uh spoilers. So have a participation cookie.

**Jake V. Steele:** Congratulations, yes adorable Blake is adorable, and yes Roman was with Neo's trap little brother.

**Kurokaze: **I can't say whether you're right or wrong because spoilers, so just take a cookie for participation.

**xbamsod: **Thank you, and I will update relatively soon but only because for the rest of this and next week because I have the time to.

**dracohalo117:** There's just something dangerously sexy about Neo, but I don't know what. And yes, adorable Blake is adorable.

**Tri4ceAwsmness: **Keep the fact that Knightshade was bought by Amethyst in mind. It might come back. Also, you could have been thinking of this story when Nora called Jaune Jaune-Jaune Arc or the much more popular fanfic Nora's Arc. And yes, there was more.

**Cloy552:** I won the challenge, muahahaha! On a more serious note adorable Blake is adorable, you'll be surprised with what I have planned (Hopefully), and why don't you read the chapter and tell _me_ if Velvet's in the not-exactly-a-harem of a harem?

**Drow79:** Yes, Jaune lives to fail another day.

**garoorar: **Yeah, sorry about the bar scene, but it wasn't originally going to be in this chapter, though I may revisit it to fix up the transition a little.  
Also, um, you may not have read the last paragraph properly or had just gotten something mixed up, because that was Pyrrha who questioned Jaune like a wife who'd question their husband, because she tends to get jealous easily in my fic… Not Blake, so… uh, sorry if that confused you.

**lukefang:** In order: Yes that was a reference to the RWBYsaurus, thank you for the praise, adorable Blake is adorable, Jaune's raising flags left, right and centre, and Roman's going to castrate him if he so much as looks at Neo inappropriately.  
Also, yes that was a reference to Nora's Arc, but that happened several chapters ago. This was just restating it.

**DarkElucidator:** Well that's a shame then.

**StudiousReader:** Good to know, I hope you keep enjoying it.

**Benthino:** Thank you.

**hihiozabimaru:** Yeah, 'spoken'.

**jakillking999:** Interesting…

**NugiSpringield:** …Uh, okay? Either fanfiction is messing up on me or…

**SMxABULM:** Thanks, and that is a funny coincidence.

**workeranomalie:** I will be following Canon as closely as I can whilst having my own twist with it. However, there will also be other non-canon chapters such as the last few that are for the sake of character development, character introduction, actual important story elements or they could be there purely because I thought it would be funny to include.

**And that is all for the reviews. Geez, why does everyone have to be so genre savvy? **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy, and on to the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own RWBY or anything referenced in this story, as they are owned by their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 8- Bully Problems

Jaune frowned as he faced his opponent. Cardin grinned and hefted his mace menacingly towards the boy. "C'mon Jauney Boy. Let's dance!" The knight just nodded wordlessly as he rolled out of the way of Cardin's mace. He gulped audibly when he heard the ground explode behind him. If the boy used that on him and got a direct hit, he could easily break a bone or two. Shaking his head free of the thoughts the blond writer stared his opponent down, his eyes emanating sheer determination.  
He had one shot at this. If he failed then Goodwitch was sure to send him home.

Taking the initiative this time, the blond boy charged at the mace wielder who just smirked smugly at the knight. Bringing his shield before him, Jaune managed to block a heavy overhead strike and swung his sword weakly as a makeshift counter. Unfortunately, his opponent had expected the attack and was far stronger than him. The sword was easily beaten back by the mace and the sheer force behind the swing knocked Crocea Mors right out of Jaune's hands. The swordless knight grimaced and blocked another overhead strike with his shield, silently noting that Cardin appeared to favour attacks where he could prove his dominance. His legs nearly buckled from the strength behind the attack by the mace wielder. Jaune scanned the arena briefly, his sword had been knocked several feet away and was too far to reach. He didn't want to lose.

Growling intensely, the writer pushed the mace off of his shield with sheer willpower, throwing Cardin off balance. Seeing the opening he had created, the knight shield bashed his opponent. Quickly glancing at his aura levels Jaune dashed for his sword, however in his rush the blond writer had failed to see that Cardin managed to recover enough to stick his leg out and effectively trip him. "End of the line Jauney Boy." He growled. Jaune sighed, he didn't want to use his semblance but it appeared he had no choice but to. With glowing eyes, the writer avoided the intense explosion that rocked the arena as the mace collided with the ground. He attempted to leap out of the way of the second swing but wasn't fast enough to avoid the rain of debris that followed the impact. The boy winced as he massaged his left shoulder, a rather large chunk of stone had managed to dislodge itself from the ground and found it's way in. Cardin frowned briefly but a quick glance at the crowd made him grin. Taking advantage of his moment of weakness, Cardin swung his mace into Jaune's shield and sent it flying by utilising the explosion from his mace. Jaune watched, displeased as the rest of his family heirloom was flung across the room.

Deciding not to take his chances fighting armless against the tank of a boy, Jaune fervently sprinted towards the sword part of Crocea Mors. Avoiding Cardin's wild swings he finally managed to get around the mace wielder and pick up his sword once again. The two squared off and circled each other slowly. Grinning, but not taking his eyes off of his opponent, Jaune taunted the stronger boy. "C'mon Cardin, I thought we were going to dance?" The knight smirked mockingly, "Or do you need me to teach you?" The blond's grin widened as the taunt took effect. The mace wielder scowled and rushed at him. Jaune's faintly glowing eyes analysed Cardin's moves, his swings had become more frantic and powerful in an attempt to hit the blond writer. Taking advantage of the enraged boy's blind fury Jaune barely managed to parry an attack and struck at the opening that he had made. Cardin growled as he stumbled backwards, the knight was unrelenting though as he went for a lunge.

Cardin got hit with a few slashes before Jaune threw a, very feeble, punch at the boy's face. What Cardin wasn't expecting, however, was the blond's face turning from determined to surprised. Before he could act on the sudden stop in the consecutive slashes Jaune spoke. "I surrender." He smiled. As he finished speaking the arena the two fought in lit up and the spectators of their spar just stared in utter confusion at the blond knight.

Pyrrha frowned, "Why have you given up Jaune?" The champion asked from the stands, it looked like he was close to winning so why had he given up? Her partner just laughed,

"Have you seen my aura levels?" The red haired girl turned to her scroll to see that Jaune's aura was nearing red. Looking up at the monitor above the arena she noticed that Cardin's aura was just barely past halfway. Ren frowned as he looked up from his scroll and turned to his friend in the arena; Jaune was doing okay on the aura front for a while but suddenly the bar drained at an insane speed. "Besides, Cardin would've won that fight eventually. He's pretty strong." The boy in question blinked, did he just compliment him?

Before any other students could express their opinions regarding Jaune's sudden surrender Glynda stepped in. "I believe that it was a smart move on Mr Arc's part. He knew that he wasn't going to win and tried a strategic retreat. He knew his limits and watched his aura levels, they unfortunately just weren't enough to defeat Mr Winchester." The knight smiled at the praise coming from the teacher and accepted the faults that she had pointed out. "Although you did not win, I suppose you didn't fail either. I believe that means you can stay Mr Arc, but do know this. If I ever catch you slacking off, you will be in big trouble."

Jaune let out a sheepish yet victorious laugh. "Will do Miss Glyn- Goodwitch!" The writer gave a thumbs up to his team in the audience as Pyrrha heaved a sigh of relief, Ren gave a small smile for his friend and Nora applauded loudly.

The corners of the witch's mouth move upwards slightly before it moved back into her usual impassive expression. "I believe that is all the time we have for today students, please make sure you keep up the good work. Just because you managed to enter Beacon does not mean you have time to rest." Announced the professor as she addressed the students in the crowd. "You are dismissed."

The class cheered as they walked out the door along with the blond woman. Before Cardin could leave he was pulled back into the class. "What the-" He was met face-to-face with someone he didn't expect. "What do _you_ want?" he growled.

"Just wanted to talk."

* * *

Pyrrha frowned as she watched her leader get launched across the room mercilessly. It had only been several weeks, how did the gap in skill increase this much? She asked herself. If anything, it appeared that Jaune was actually worse than he was before. Cardin stalked over towards the boy menacingly. The knight instantly recovered and went for a two-handed approach, grabbing Crocea Mors with both hands. He went for a swift overhead swing but was intercepted by Cardin's mace. "This is the part, where you lose." Sneered the larger boy as he steadily gained leverage. Jaune scoffed.

"Over my dead- oof." He was interrupted by Cardin who had kneed him in an unguarded area. The knight fell to the ground in his pain and dropped his sword, clutching the damaged area in an attempt to soothe it. Many of the men winced at the low blow.

Cardin smiled as he walked over to the downed boy and lifted his mace menacingly. The boy stopped midway through his swing as a buzzer went off. The lights flickered on and Glynda walked onto the stage. "Cardin, that's enough." The boy reluctantly walked off of the stage, mace in tow. The woman sighed disappointedly at the fallen knight. "Mr Arc, it's been weeks now, please try to refer to your scroll during combat. I thought you knew this already." Inwardly the teacher narrowed her eyes at the blond writer. _I don't get it, Mr Arc has already shown that he already knows of this and that he has the mind of a tactician._ She frowned, _why is he so behind in battle skills?_ Deciding to leave the thoughts for a later date, she addressed the students before her.

"Remember everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away." The students cheered and muttered among themselves. Ruby and Yang jumped up and down excitedly and Weiss actually smiled again. "It won't be long before students from other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing." The woman paused for a moment before continuing, "Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale." With that spoken the students talked between each other happily whilst the bell rang in the background. Pyrrha stared worryingly at Jaune as he dropped his head to the ground dejectedly.

* * *

Nora narrowed her eyes and grinned, "So there we were, in the middle of the night." Spoke the Valkyrie dramatically.

"It was day." Added Ren calmly. Yang listened to the story intently, this was _way_ better than Port's recounts.

"We were surrounded by Ursai."

Her childhood friend sighed, "They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!" She exclaimed, catching the attentions of a couple of their friends.

"Two of them."

"But they were no match, and in the end Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs." The storyteller finished proudly.

More or less exhausted, Ren sighed once more at his childhood friend. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." He explained. However, Ruby, Pyrrha, Weiss and Jaune had not been intrigued or showed the least bit of interested in the story and were doing their own thing. Blake had initially been reading one of Jane Caur's books, she had learnt to swap the book cover with another in order to hide it from Yang, but had been dragged into listening by the buxom blond who was absolutely rapt with the Valkyrie's tales. Weiss was busy filing her nails, not in the least bit caring for the sloth lover's stories of regale, whilst Pyrrha and Ruby stared worriedly at a rather troubled looking knight.

"Are you okay Jaune?" Asked the champion as she watched him poke absentmindedly at his food, her partner wasn't eating.

Jaune jumped in surprise as Pyrrha concerned voice had interrupted his thoughts. "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Why?" He mumbled, Ruby decided to join in the intervention.

"It's just that, you seem a little… Not, okay." She stated, awkwardly avoiding looking at his eyes. _Why is doing an intervention so hard?_ She thought to herself. The adorable reaper shuddered as she thought back to when Yang had thrown one over her so called 'obsession' over cookies. _Oh... Right._

The knight chuckled unconvincingly, "Guys, I'm fine. Look!" He smiled and half-heartedly gave a thumbs up. Cardin and his team interrupted the blond boy's bad acting as the group heard mocking laughter in their general direction. He frowned upon gazing at the scene, Team CRDL had grouped around a poor rabbit Faunus and was currently harassing her. His fists clenched unconsciously. The writer was once again interrupted from his thoughts as Pyrrha spoke up.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!" She frowned. The leader of Team JNPR laughed it off.

"Wh-who? Cardin Winchester? Nah, he just likes to mess around. You know, practical jokes!"

The adorable reaper glared at him softly, "He's a bully."

The knight laughed it off again, "Oh please," he chuckled, "name one time he's 'bullied' me." Blake frowned visibly as Jaune air-quoted bullied. Something seemed a little off about the knight lately.

"Well there was the time he knocked the books out of your hands." She commented helpfully.

Ren nodded, "And the time where he opened your shield in the middle of the doorway, you were stuck there for hours."

Yang chuckled at the memories, "There was also that time where he pushed you into one of the rocket propelled lockers to dust knows where."

Jaune deadpanned at the group before him, "I said _one_ time. And I didn't land _that_ far from the school." He laughed nervously. "I was only stuck in the Emerald forest without a weapon, one, maybe two days tops!"

The red haired girl sighed at her partner, "Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can always just ask!" She scolded exasperatedly.

"Oh, oh, I know! We'll break his legs, cut them off, feed them to the sloths and drown him in pancake batter and maple syrup!" Cheered Nora with a twinkle in her eyes, "But mostly break his legs, definitely." Jaune shuddered uncomfortably and shook his head vehemently.

"Guys, really, _it's fine_. Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me." The writer smiled, "He's a jerk to everyone." He finished off, hiding a thoughtful frown at the end of his sentence.

"Ow that hurts!" Cried the young bunny Faunus with a rather cute accent as Cardin pulled on her ears and laughed, his teammates laughing along with him. "Please stop." She whimpered in annoyance.

"Hahaha, I told you they were real." Smirked the leader of Team CRDL as he kept pulling on her ears.

Russel thrush, one of Cardin's teammates, snickered. "What a freak." After that statement Cardin quickly let go of the girl's ears.

Jaune frowned as the bunny Faunus walked off shamefully. Pyrrha glared at the bully and his team. "Atrocious, I can't stand people like him." She commented venomously. Blake nodded sadly,

"He's not the only one." Yang sighed as she watched the girl leave the room.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus."

Jaune sighed dejectedly for the second time that day as he walked away from his friends, food tray in hand. "It's gone a bit too far." He mumbled incoherently. Cardin watched the knight follow the Faunus out of the room with a grin.

* * *

Jaune quickly caught up to the brunette and called out. "Excuse me miss!" He cried out. The girl turned in confusion and pointed to herself, tilting her head slightly. "Yeah, you with the bunny ears." He yelled slightly less loudly, only realising the potentially insulting nature of his statement after saying it. The girl hesitantly stopped.

Jaune took a deep breath. "Um, are you okay?" He asked, "I couldn't help but notice you were being bullied earlier." The brunette laughed nervously.

"I-I'm fine." She lied. Jaune frowned as he stared at her ear.

"That looks painful." He stated matter-of-factly.

The young Faunus gave him a fake smile, "It looks worse than it actually is." Before she could stop him Jaune tapped the bent ear gently, his eyes glowing softly for a split second. The girl winced and let out a soft yelp.

Jaune gave her a sarcastic and disappointed look, "Sure it does." He said scoldingly. "Come with me a sec." He grabbed her hand and brought her out to the fountain outdoors. The female student reluctantly followed, who was this stranger? and why was he so concerned about her?

The bunny Faunus gave him a strange look as they approached the outside gardens, "Why did you take me out here?" She asked curiously, blushing slightly from the contact between hands.

Jaune smiled kindly at her, "Well I wanted to bring you somewhere a bit more public, so you didn't get any weird ideas about what I was going to do." It happened all the time in the books he both read and wrote, so he'd rather not go through the trouble of a misunderstanding.

The girl gave him an amused look, "What are you going to do that would warrant my suspicion?" She asked accusingly. The writer laughed and waved his hands in a defensive manner.

"Nothing, just… Hold still for a moment." The Faunus, although reluctant, complied. She was treated to a moment of sharp pain in her ear before she felt… nothing. The boy had seemingly fixed the pain in her ear. She felt tingles run down her spine as he gently rubbed the sore area of her ear. Meanwhile Jaune felt a myriad of feelings. He felt happy, apologetic and amazed all at the same time.  
He was happy that he had managed to reduce her pain, and in turn make someone else happy. But despite this, he frowned. The knight had heard that a Faunus' animal appendages were rather sensitive, and thus their feelings about are just as much so. Touching a Faunus' animal characteristics was only for those of which they trusty fully and wholeheartedly. The writer shuddered, he just couldn't help but keep rubbing them they were just _so soft_!

"Um, they don't hurt anymore… You can let go now." The female student mumbled. The blond boy yelped and quickly jumped away from the brunette girl, shouting out incoherent apologies as he did so. "It's fine, um…" Jaune facepalmed as he realised he hadn't introduced himself.

"Oh, where are my manners. My name is Jaune Arc, leader of Team JNPR and failure extraordinaire. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss...?" He trailed off hoping for a name.

The girl giggled softly, "Scarlatina, Velvet Scarlatina." Jaune gave her an apologetic look.

"I'm really sorry about touching your ears without permission, I know that they're very precious to Faunus but you looked like you were in pain and I wanted to help and-" Velvet laughed melodically. The writer gave her a curious look. "What?"

The brunette tried to stifle her giggles with her hand to no avail, "Sorry, it's just that… You actually thought I'd be mad at you for helping me out?" Jaune blinked for a moment then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly,

"Well when you put it like that it sounds pretty stupid." The two shared a laugh.

Smiling at each other, Jaune helped the young girl up off the bench and the two began to walk. "Why did you help me?" Asked the Faunus as they walked around. Jaune chuckled, was this twice now he was asked for his reasons for helping someone? This time it was Velvet's turn to look at the knight curiously. "Did I say something funny?" Jaune shook his head negative.

"No, you just reminded me of a friend." He stated. The brunette pouted,

"So, why did you help me?" She reiterated. Jaune smiled,

"If I said it was because you're cute would that be bad?" Velvet blushed and frowned but was surprised when Jaune started to laugh, "Seriously though, I'll tell you if you answer this question first." The girl nodded. "Why shouldn't I help you?" The Faunus blinked. Then laughed. Then laughed some more. "What did I say now?" Asked Jaune perplexedly.

Velvet smiled warmly at the writer as they rounded a corner and did a Shaft head tilt, "Nothing, you just reminded me of a friend." She poked jokingly. The two shared another laugh. Jaune let out a happy sigh as they entered the building once more.

"Well, I have class on right now so… Catch you later?"

Velvet giggled, "Of course."

With a new friend made, Jaune walked happily to his next class, enthusiastically whistling as he did so.

* * *

Jaune slept deeply as Professor- ahem, _Doctor_ Oobleck whizzed around the classroom at a fast pace, lecturing the students as he did so. "… Faunus War, Humankind was quite adamant about centralising Faunus population in menagerie." Spoke the green haired man rapidly. Taking a brief sip from his coffee mug, the professor continued. "Now! While this may feel like ancient history to many of you it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events." The class watched the grown man speed around the classroom like a young child on sugar as he lectured them. As per usual, Pyrrha, Blake and Weiss were some of the only students listening intently whilst taking notes. Below Pyrrha and Blake sat Velvet who was watching the prof- Doctor with a troubled expression on her face. "Why the, repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day. Now, have any of you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" Oobleck asked the classroom. Velvet timidly looked around the room before slowly raising her hand upon seeing others do so as well. Blake frowned, _the poor girl_, she thought to herself as she noticed the clear reluctance within her action. The black haired girl's expression darkened slightly, _she's still braver than me_. The bookworm unconsciously rubbed her bow.

A frown placed itself onto Oobleck's face for a fraction of a second before he continued his lecture. "Dreadful, simply dreadful. Remember students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence." The prof- Doctor took another sip from his coffee. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang! Now which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" Without missing a beat, Weiss lifted her hand. "Yes?"

The heiress smiled confidently, "The Battle at Fort Castle." She answered easily.

Oobleck nodded, "Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Cardin smirked and launched a small triangle of folded paper at Jaune's sleeping form. "Headshot!" He whispered triumphantly as the paper hit it's mark.

The knight woke with a start, "H-hey!" He complained on instinct. Doctor Oobleck on the other hand looked ecstatic.

"Mr Arc!" He smiled, "Finally contributing to class, this is excellent, excellent! What is the answer?" The teacher spoke as he approached the woken blond writer. Jaune blinked.

"Uhh, the answer?... The advantage that the Faunus had…" He stalled and looked behind the coffee loving man. On the rows of seats to the opposite sides both Pyrrha and Velvet were trying to show him the answer by miming it out. "Over that guys stuff…" he drawled as the two acted out completely different things. It was a nice gesture and all, but what in Remnant were they trying to tell him? "Uh, Binoculars!" He exclaimed. The laughter from the students around him and the Professor's- er, Doctor's unamused look was all Jaune needed to be able to tell that he was wrong with his guess. Pyrrha face palmed whilst Velvet muttered incoherent apologies under her breath, bowing to Jaune as she did so.

Cardin was among the loudest of the ones laughing. Oobleck moved behind his desk, "Very funny Mr Arc. Cardin, perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject?" Cardin stopped his laughed and was about to answer when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye, pausing for a brief moment he spoke.

"Well, I know it's easier to train an animal than a soldier." Oobleck shook his head in disappointment. Pyrrha frowned at the bully,

"You're not the most open minded of individuals are you, Cardin?"

The leader of Team CRDL scowled at her, "What? You got a problem?" The champion turned to the teacher,

"No, I have the answer. It's night vision." She began. "Many Faunus are known to have nearly perfect sight in the dark." Recited the Spartan girl.

"General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the General captured." Added Blake. Turning to Cardin, she gave him a mocking smile. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure." Jaune frowned sadly, that statement applied to him as well.

Cardin got out of his seat angrily but was interrupted before he could act upon it, "Mr Winchester! Please take your seat! You and Mr Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." The blond writer sighed in a defeated manner and Carding sat down reluctantly. "Now! Moving on…"

* * *

Once the lesson ended all the students were allowed to leave, all but Jaune and Cardin. Pyrrha frowned as she stopped outside of the doorway, turning to her teammates she spoke, "You go on ahead, I'll wait for Jaune." Ren nodded in understanding and walked off, Nora in tow as she happily skipped behind him.

Oobleck frowned as he stared at the two boys in trouble. After taking another sip from his coffee he addressed the students. "You two have been struggling in my class since day one! Now, I don't know if it's a lack of interest, or just your stubborn nature, but whatever it is…" The professor paused to drink his coffee once more. "It stops now. You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school, and we only accept the best, so I expect you to act like it. Histoy is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it… You're destined to repeat it. Pages fifty-one to ninety-one! I want an essay on my desk by next class. Now! Run along." The man quickly left the classroom, leaving Jaune and Cardin to exit themselves.

The writer left the classroom first, followed by the bully. Upon reaching the outside of the doorway and noticing Pyrrha, Cardin knocked Jaune to the floor and laughed satisfactorily as it elicited a yelp of pain from the blond knight. Seeing this, the red haired girl hurriedly rushed to pick the unfortunate boy up. The Spartan girl scowled at the bully as he walked off. "You know, I really _will_ break his legs." Jaune sighed dejectedly. Pyrrha's expression lit up as a thought hit her, "I have an idea!" She exclaimed happily. The leader of Team JNPR's eyes widened as his partner clutched his hand and ran off with him in tow. "Here, come with me!" The writer chuckled, _did I even have a choice?_ He thought to himself as the girl dragged him off to dust knows where.

Jaune frowned as the two entered the rooftop of one of the buildings. This was where he had mistaken Pyrrha for someone else and had nearly called her beautiful out loud. Dust would that have been embarrassing. He stepped out with the champion and walked over to the edge where he had seen her previously. "Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a tough time right now, but I'm not _that_ depressed." He sadly looked over the edge of the balcony and continued, "I could always become a full time writer… Or something silly like that!" He hurriedly added the end, laughing nervously. His partner, upon realising what the knight had been insinuating with his sentence, quickly pulled him away from the edge in horror.

"No! That's not why I brought you up here." The writer quietly sighed in relief, _I was scared for a second there_. He thought to himself. "Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so… I want to help you!"

Jaune blinked confusedly as his expression darkened. "What?"

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" Stated the red haired girl happily. However, Jaune felt quite the opposite. Staring blankly at the ground he commented,

"You think I need help?" He mumbled, his voice breaking slightly. Any thoughts that could've been seen through his eyes were blocked as his hair covered the top half of his face in a dark shroud.

Pyrrha, realising her mistake, went to remedy the misunderstanding. "No-no! That's not what I meant!" Jaune's expression darkened further.

"But you just said it."

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" If it was even possible, Jaune's face darkened further upon hearing those words. He turned away and lowered both his head and his voice.

"You're wrong… I don't belong here" He muttered.

The champion frowned at her pessimistic partner. "That's a terrible thing to say! Of course you do!" Jaune, now angry, turned to her fiercely, the rage and self-loathing evident in his blue eyes as they were finally revealed.

"No I don't!" He growled out, "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon…"

Pyrrha looked at him in worried confusion. "Wh-what do you mean?" She stuttered.

The knight's voice grew louder and higher as he spoke, "I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this academy!" He turned to look at her straight in the eyes. The red haired girl gasped, his eyes had lost their usual blue shine and were now a dull shade. "I lied, I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied." He confessed.

"What? But… Why?" Asked the girl in disbelief.

"I have four reasons… but one of the main one is that this is what I always wanted to be!" He exclaimed loudly. Turning away once more, he spoke "My father, my grandfather, his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one too. I was just never good enough." _I didn't want to be remembered as the Arc warrior, who had failed as a warrior…_ Don't get him wrong, he loved writing his books. But as an Arc, he felt it was required of him, that it was his _duty_ to be a hero. Just like many before him. Pyrrha attempted to place her hand on his shoulder comfortingly as she had done many times before.

"Then let me help you!" She pleaded.

Jaune turned to her once more with wild frustration. "I don't want help, I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!" He cried. "For once in my life, I want to be the main character!"

His partner hesitantly spoke. "Jaune, I-"

The blond writer gave her a look, "I'm _tired_ of being the lovable idiot, the secondary character who gets stuck in a tree while his friends fight for their lives! _Don't you understand?_ If I can't do this on my own… What good am I?" Pyrrha once again reached her hand out to comfort him, but Jaune just shrugged away from her touch. "Just… Leave me alone, okay?"

The girl stared at him for a moment, debating on the best course of action before bowing her head slightly. "If, that's what you think is best…" With that, she sadly left Jaune to his musings as he sat down.

After Pyrrha had exited the roof Cardin, finished with his eavesdropping, climbed out of the window below. Laughing, he spoke. "Oh Jauney Boy, we're going to be having a _long_ talk."

Jaune frowned, "Cardin."

* * *

**And that's the chapter folks! Sorry if it's a little short compared to the last one, but this was probably the best place to end it. But don't worry, the next chapter will hopefully be much longer, and it also gives a little of Jaune's backstory. I was looking over the rough drafts I had for the next few chapters when I realised that it is **_**really**_** hard to write the original Canon RWBYverse in a comedy aspect. Whenever I tried to head into the darker subjects covered within, I found it hard to keep the topic light like you'd expect from a romance and comedy/humour fanfic.**

**Oh well, I'll just cross the bridge when I get to it. Either way, expect some **_**really**_** funny scenes a chapter or two from now, 'cause I have some interesting things planned. Next chapter we tackle the Forever Fall Arc.  
This was actually supposed to come out yesterday, but I had problems with life getting in the way of editing.**

**See you guys soon, and don't forget to Favourite, Follow and Review if you enjoyed it!**

**Anyone who can guess a specific reference gets a sloth plushie from Nora!**


	9. Chapter 9- Forever Fall

**Hello and welcome back to another chapter of Jaune's Guilty Pleasure! Just like to take this time to say thank you all for reading my story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. That said, 30'000 Views? You guys are awesome! Never thought that a story of mine would get this popular.**

**Review response time!**

**NinjaFang1331:** Thank you.

**garoorar: **Right… how do I do this without giving spoilers?...  
For starters, you need to remember one thing: Jaune has no prior skill or knowledge when it comes to fighting. He does what comes to him instinctively as well as what he's seen from others, namely Pyrrha. He won't have his own fighting style based on his semblance until Pyrrha starts to train him (And he actually reveals what his semblance is to everyone) because he has no clue what he's doing other than block and attack. His only experience fighting is with the Grimm in Emerald Forest and the small amount of Combat Classes since, as well as the pointers from Pyrrha about how to generally use a sword and shield.  
Yang, Ruby and Blake all had _years_ to perfect their fighting styles from previous experience, be it from Signal or past experiences. Jaune has had a month _tops_ to learn the _basics_ of using a sword and shield. He isn't a battle genius yet, it will take a while for him to become a decent fighter, and much more to get his own fighting style based around his semblance.  
Secondly, there is a reason as to why Jaune is doing what he is doing, a method to his madness if you will. I can't say what they are as that would be telling, let's just say he knows that what he's doing is being a cliché high school bully victim.  
Lastly, yes it was most definitely a rehash of the show because it goes according to one of Jaune's four reasons for coming to Beacon. A lot of his actions from now on will be based off of them.  
I must say though, the fact that your review was too long for the email was funny. Sorry if this response comes out a bit… strong? I'm trying to explain it the best I can without spoilers. Jeez this is a long response. Hopefully this explains things for you. If you have any other queries just ask.

**Cloy552:** Bunny girls for life.

**Guest (Guest): **You'll be surprised with how he deals with Cardin…

**OnTheCobb:** You'll get it… Eventually… Maybe… Probably?

**Benthino:** Thank you.

**dracohalo117: **Genuinely not know what? And the Cardin situation will be explained.

**DarkElucidator:** From my perspective of Jaunedice, it was Jaune _trying_ to man up, but went about it the wrong way. That's why the end of Forever Fall is much better because he learns to accept help from others.

**Toaneo07 Ver2.0:** Uh, ok. What about it did you not like? The way I went about it? Was it the actual chapter as a whole? Was there a mistake I made? Could you please tell me these things? I can't get better at writing if you don't.

**Well, onto the story!  
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any mentioned franchises or referenced material. They all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 9- Forever Fall

Jaune sighed in relief, it was the last lesson for the day and, of course, it was Combat Class. Taught by none other than Glynda Goodwitch herself. "Today students, we will be practicing aura manipulation." Stated the teacher as she paced back and forth before them. "You will demonstrate the amount of control you have over your aura by letting it flow around you. A tip for those inexperienced, if you remember the chant that was spoken to you when your aura was unlocked it helps to repeat it to yourself."  
The knight smiled nostalgically as he thought back to when he had his aura unlocked.

_Flashback_

"So Jaune, when did you want us to unlock your aura?" Asked Violet, Jaune's third eldest sister, as she smiled down at him. The boy, nine years old at the time, grinned at the three older girls before him confidently.

"I wanna do it now!" He exclaimed childishly. "Please-Please-Please-Please-Please"

Luna, his beloved second eldest sister, smiled warmly at the boy. "Jaunie Dear, do you even know what aura is?" The three girls laughed amusedly as the young boy shook his head. The four siblings turned to the door as their mother entered the room with their fourth eldest sister Light.

"What's with all the laughing?" Asked the older woman curiously. After the three girls relayed the situation all the women laughed, prompting their father to enter the room. Jaune pouted as the girls told him what happened, causing him to laugh heartily. The older man rustled young Jaune's hair affectionately.

"We're just teasing son. What do you know about aura?"

The blond nine year old fidgeted, "Um, all those really cool people that fight bad stuffs have it!" The family laughed once more.

"That's right Jaunie Dear." Smiled Luna, "Do you know what aura is, or why they have it?" The young boy shook his head once more. Light, being unable to handle his cuteness anymore, glomped the poor boy.

"Oh you're just so adorable… Wait, where's Opal?" Jaune fidgeted once more,

"She's not trying to get cookies out of the cookie jar… I'm definitely not stalling for her." Lied the boy. He squirmed under his mother's stern look. She may only be a head taller than him, but that didn't mean she wasn't any less intimidating than his dad who was slightly more than twice his size. "… Opal run for it!" He cried as Light and Lily headed into the kitchen. There was a loud noise of metal hitting the tiled floor followed by a multitude of light footsteps.

"Gotcha!" Cried Lily as she tackled the younger girl onto the couch. Jaune looked apologetically at his twin sister.

"I'm really sorry Opal." He sniffled, "I'm not a good liar, I don't think about what I say and I got you in trouble." The girl just grinned, she was the boy's mirror image in every way. Their appearance was similar, just mirrored around. Their personalities, however, differed greatly.

"Don't worry little bro, you did your best. Now what is this about unlocking? 'Cause Opal wants in!" The rest of the family smiled as they watched the two interact. If only their other daughters were awake, it would've been a family moment. Jaune pouted at his sister.

"We're twins, you aren't older."

The girl stuck her tongue out, "Am too. By seven seconds!"

"That isn't much older." Scoffed Jaune.

Opal just grinned, "Still older."

"Muuum! Opal's being infu… infiri… inferninat… infurytate… She's being annoying!" Cried the boy. Violet just smiled at her younger brother, he had probably heard her use the word not too long ago and wanted to sound smart. He did love learning 'big words', as the boy had put it.

"You mean infuriating?" She corrected.

"Yeah, infurrynating." Jaune's mother smiled warmly at him,

"Well, why don't we just move back onto the subject of aura?" She asked rhetorically.

Opal gave her a strange look, "Gesundheit." The short older woman chuckled,

"No silly, aura." She repeated. "Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burden and shields our hearts. With practice, Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."

The twins stared blankly at her, the sheer adorableness caused Light to glomp the two and nuzzle their cheeks.

Their father laughed, "Honey, I know you love to be poetic and all, but they're nine." The young woman huffed and pouted.

Jaune smiled at his mum, "No- I understand. Uh, everyone has auras in them and they are the mineyfestnation of our souls. Wait, do monsters have auras?" Luna chuckled,

"No Jaunie Dear, the monsters we fight lack a soul. The monsters, otherwise known as the creatures of Grimm, are the manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness and we are the light." The twins nodded and exclaimed simultaneously.

"And that's why people fight them!" Luna smiled at their childish beliefs,

"It's not about why, it's about knowing. Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our aura. Everyone has some of both." Jaune stared at his older sister in awe, stars in his eyes as she began to glow by showing off her aura.

The twins turned to their third older sister as she began to speak, "By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of the tools and equipment Hunters use are conduits for aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting."

Jaune's eyes brightened as he beamed along with Opal, "It's like a force field!" The two exclaimed excitedly. Their dad laughed,

"Like I said, nine years old." He grinned, "But if you want to look at it that way then yes. So, who do you want to unlock your aura?"

The young boy grinned and turned to his black haired sister, "I want Luna to be the one!" He exclaimed. His parents chuckled, of course he would, the boy absolutely adored and idolised the young woman. Opal, on the other hand, frowned.

"After Jaune gets his unlocked, can he unlock mine?" She asked. The two adults gave each other a look and nodded their head negative.

"Opal, when Jaune gets his aura unlocked he won't be able to control it properly."

The girl pouted, "But I want Jaune to do it!" She cried. Suddenly the boy hugged her, earning an embarrassed blush from the young girl.

"Sis, I want you to do it the same time as me. We can be aura twins!" Their parents chuckled, it was a kind gesture from the boy but no one's aura was the same. It was practically impossible to be 'aura twins' in anything other than name. Opal stopped crying and nodded.

"A-alright." Light's eyes shone as a hair strand on her head wiggled excitedly.

"Ooh! Can I do it?" The young girl nodded.

"Alrighty then, close your eyes and we can begin." The twins nodded and closed their eyes as Luna and Light walked up to the two. The older girls held their hands over the side of the heads of their respective sibling. "Now concentrate." The four siblings began to glow. The rest of the family watched as the two older girls started to speak.

_Flashback End_

The rest of Team JNPR and RWBY watched in awe as Jaune began to glow brightly as he spoke, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." Pyrrha's eyes widened, that was the same chant that had been used to unlock her aura. She inwardly grinned manically, _it's fate!_ Glynda's mouth twitched upwards for a fraction of a second as she watched the boy glow.

"Well done Mr Arc. You seem to be getting the hang of this." The boy grinned and was about to utter his thanks but fell over. Acting out of instinct, Weiss caught him before he could hit the ground in exhaustion. "Now you need to train to regulate how much aura you use at once. I believe that is all the time we have for today students, take an example from Mr Arc and learn to train your aura." She finished. Jaune winced as he hit Weiss' non-existent bosom. _It's like hitting a brick wall…_

"Ow." He muttered. The heiress glared at him, seemingly reading his mind.

"I am not flat!" The knight was too exhausted to retort and just nodded off to sleep. Yang grinned at the sleeping figure of the boy, he was like a dog.

"I think he likes you. Isn't that right boy?~" She cooed and ruffled his hair, earning a satisfied whimper from the unconscious writer. This elicited several chuckles from those nearby whilst Weiss just huffed.

Pyrrha frowned and grabbed the sleeping boy, laying him on her chest. "I think it would be better if he stayed like this. He seems pretty exhausted and I _am_ his partner, so I have to do at least this much for him." Yang gave a knowing smirk,

"Please Cereal Girl, you just want to keep Vomit Boy to yourself." Blake frowned,

"If you're so against it, why don't you have Jaune sleep against your chest?" The buxom blond laughed,

"I'm sure Jaune would prefer to be in your arms Miss White Chocolate Lover." A light blush found it's way onto the black haired girl's face.

"How did you know about the white hot chocolate?"

"I bribed Nora." The Valkyrie grinned,

"I don't regret a thing, those were awesome sloth plushie!" Exclaimed the girl happily, bringing out a sloth plushie to snuggle.

Before Blake could wring the sloth lover's neck, the rest of the group decided to interject. "The lessons over, time to head to our dorm rooms!" Cried Ruby as she held back the embarrassed introvert.

"C'mon Blakey~" Cooed Yang as she grabbed the back of her uniform and dragged her off. The rest of Teams RWBY and JNPR briefly looked at each other in amusement before leaving.  
Unfortunately for a certain young knight, he was still unconscious and none of the students noticed as they exited the room.. To make matters worse, Cardin was the one to finally notice the comatose young man.

"Wake up Jauney Boy." He growled. _Dear dust, this guy could sleep through an earthquake!_ He mentally frowned as he shook the unconscious writer. The boy just grumbled a little bit before mumbling 'waffles' as the bully stopped shaking him. "Jaune!" He cried angrily as he slapped him. The hard slap was enough to shake the boy from his dreams as he awoke to the annoyed face of Cardin. The blond groaned,

"What now Cardin?" He asked. This was the seventh time this week. The mace wielder smirked,

"I have a plan."

Pyrrha gasped as she realised that they had left Jaune in the arena. "You two go on ahead!" She cried as she spun around and sprinted back towards their blond leader. Nora tilted her head curiously,

"What's her problem?" She wondered aloud. Ren's movement staggered for a split second, _I completely forgot about Jaune... _Deadpanned the silent boy in realisation, _oh well, Pyrrha's got him. Some friend I am..._

Upon arriving at the arena, the champion came to a halt just shy of the doorway. What was she going to say if he was conscious? Not only her, but _everyone_ had left the boy unconscious on the floor. How did they manage that? Peering slowly around the doorway, she was surprised to see that Jaune was not only conscious, but conversing with _Cardin_. She frowned as she watched them talk like buddies, _Well, they _were_ buddies after all. _She sighed, might as well leave Jaune to his devices. Their wise leader obviously knew what he was doing...

* * *

Jaune sighed as he approached his dorm room. Things were starting to get out of hand. It was just one little thing he wanted to do, but now it was spiralling out of control. He looked at the note he received from Cardin. "What am I going to do?"

From inside the room Pyrrha stared worriedly out the window. The champion was gazing at the outside world so intently that she almost didn't hear Nora speak. Said Valkyrie was currently jumping on a bed whilst watching Ren tinker with Stormflower. "How come Jaune gets home so late?" She asked innocently.

Ren's mouth contorted into a miniscule frown, "He's become rather scarce ever since he began fraternising with Cardin." He commented. The normally silent boy aimed his weapon at the wall to get a sense of progress with his tinkering.

Nora looked at her teammates sadly for a moment before quickly shifting to her happy demeanour, "That's weird." Commented the hyperactive girl as she continued to bounce. "Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow?" The orange haired girl did a spin in mid-air and landed perfectly on her back. "We need our rest."

Pyrrha glared out the window, "I'm sure our leader knows _exactly_ what he's doing." Spoke the champion angrily. In her head she was incredibly worried for the boy, but she was angry that she couldn't force herself to act upon it. The girl inwardly squirmed at the thought. She had never felt this way towards someone before and couldn't explain just how confused it made her.

The childhood friends exchanged glances as they noticed the expression on the red haired girl's features. "I guess so…" Nora mumbled.

Outside the room Jaune was kicking himself. He had overheard the whole thing and was considering going back to the roof and letting loose some steam. Before he could come to a decision on his next move a familiar, adorable voice spoke from behind him. "Hey Jaune!" She giggled as he jumped several feet off the ground. Literally. The young reaper made a mental note to ask Jaune how to jump that high without the use of aura, it was awesome! "How is it going?" Greeted the rose. "Did you lock yourself out again?"

Jaune laughed as he turned around to see Ruby and was treated to the sight of her rather cute sleepwear. "Oh! Uh, nope!" He exclaimed, "Got it." The knight smiled proudly as he held out his scroll.

Ruby looked at the blond in confusion, why wasn't he in his pyjamas yet? "So, where have you been lately?" She asked. Jaune masked his sadness, she was obviously referring to the times he had been preoccupied with Cardin and his team.

Avoiding her gaze, he answered, "I uh…" He began in an attempt to make an excuse. Where was his usual writer's flare? The writer sighed in resignation, if he wanted to resolve this mess he had found himself in, he'd have to come clean eventually so why not start telling the truth now? Even if he _was_ only going to tell half the truth. "I messed up," He confessed. "I did something I shouldn't have and now Team CRDL's got me on a leash and Pyrrha's mad at me… I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He said sadly as he slumped against the door to his room, "I'm a failure". Ruby's eyes widened, she didn't expect him to just open up like that, especially to someone from another team. Maybe it was because he trusted her? She blushed faintly at the thought. Smiling, she found a way to pep him up a bit.

"Nope!" She exclaimed confidently.

Jaune glanced at her, "Nope?"

"Nope!" She exclaimed once more. "You're a leader now Jaune, you're not allowed to be a failure." Stated the young reaper matter-of-factly.

"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" _Among other things._ He kept the last part to himself.

Ruby appeared to consider his statement for a second before speaking her wise word once more, "Nope!" She exclaimed. Jaune laughed and rolled his eyes as the reaper went to sit beside him.

"You know, you're not exactly the easiest person to talk about this kind of stuff." He deadpanned.

"Nope!" The writer banged the back of his head against the door in annoyance, though only gently so as to not alert his team. "Maybe you were a failure when you were a kid." Ruby watched as Jaune slumped further down the door, was she being too harsh? "You might've even been a failure the first day we met." The boy somehow managed to slump even further down._ Yep, too harsh_. Meanwhile, the writer's negativity was having a field day. First girl he met was consoling him by saying that he's a failure, great. _How is this supposed to be encouraging?_ "But you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Uhh, because…"

Ruby pointed at him to emphasise her next point, "Because it's not just about you anymore. You got a team now Jaune. We both do! And if we fail then, we'll just be bringing them down along with us. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second." She said as she stood up and moved to her room. "You're team deserves a great leader Jaune, and I think that can be you." The writer smiled hopefully, the light in his eyes rekindled by the small rose. "Have a good night Jaune." He laughed to himself once she closed the door behind her. Here he was getting life advice from a girl two years his junior. It was sad really, but she had a point. From here on out, he was going to stop being a failure and start being his own man. He got up triumphantly, first step was fixing the situation that had gotten out of hand. He had enough research anyway.

Jaune blinked as he listened to a new message on his scroll from Cardin. The blond sighed. Scratch that, first step was getting Team CRDL a box of Rapier Wasps.

* * *

The next day found the students at a bright red coloured forest. _Forever Fall Forest_, thought Jaune as he absentmindedly took note of his surroundings. It was a fitting name as the leaves of the trees were constantly in an autumn colour palette. He whistled at the trees, they were a lovely shade of red that reminded him of his partner. He gazed aimlessly at the beauty of the flora around him as he followed the other students.

"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But, we are not here to sight see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so." The teacher inwardly smirked, _plus it gives me some time to read without Ozpin leering over my shoulder._ Jaune 'accidentally' bumped into Cardin with his armfuls of equipment, innocently whistling when the boy glared at him. "Each of you must gather one jars-worth of red sap, however, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock, have fun!" The blond writer rolled his eyes, have fun his behind. They were just here to do some errands for a teacher that couldn't be bothered to do it themself. Why Miss Glyn- Goodwitch was here and not the other professor was beyond him.

Cardin gripped Jaune's arm, "C'mon buddy, let's go." He spoke cheerily. Jaune watched sadly as his team walked off without him. Nodding slowly, he followed the bully. Pyrrha observed the knight as he walked away and sighed, what was she going to do about him?

Team CRDL lazed about as their good ol' buddy Jaune got the sap for them. The four bullies smirked as the knight came back, carrying six jars of Forever Fall sap. "Hey, great work Jauney Boy." Complimented Cardin as the knight collapsed from exhaustion. "Now that wasn't too hard, was it?"

Jaune looked back at him as his eyes started to unfocus, "I think I'm allergic to this stuff." He replied nasally. "Does anyone else see that purple and green dinosaur giving free hugs?"

Cardin seemed to pay no mind to Jaune's question as he continued on. "Great, great, great." He interrupted, "So, Jaune. I bet you're asking yourself: 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?"

Jaune's unfocused eyes widened, "Whoa, are you psychic? That, along with why that blue rainbow over there is pink, is one of the many questions I have asked myself today." He gaped.

The bully blinked confusedly for a moment before grinning as Jaune sat up, eyes focusing slightly. "Well come with me and you'll find out." Jaune gulped, he was going to get it now.

The group of five walked through the forest of Forever Fall until they came across teams RWBY and JNPR collecting sap. Jaune watched sadly as all of his new friends appeared to be having fun. He stifled a chuckle when Ren handed a full jar to Nora in order to fill another jar, only for the Valkyrie to devour it whole, jar not included. He turned confusedly to the bully to his right. "Cardin, what's going on?"

The boy replied with one word. "Payback." Jaune twitched, masking his surprise.

The knight quickly gazed at his partner worriedly, "Pyrrha?" he muttered. "What are you?-"

He was interrupted as Cardin pounded the ground with a closed fist. "That's the girl. Red haired know-it-all thinks she so smart, just because she got onto a cereal box." Jaune frowned as Cardin brought out the box of Rapier Wasps. "Alright boys, last night old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box full of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're going to put him to work." Jaune grimaced, he really _was_ going to go through with the plan. "According to one of the essays he wrote for me last week, these nasty things _love_ sweets. I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two." Jaune was pulled onto his feet as CRDL got up. "And you're going to do it." Jaune blinked as Cardin placed a jar in his hands.

"Do what?"

"Hit her with the sap," Explained the bully as he pointed to the jar within the knight's arms. "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." The others within Team CRDL laughed at the boy as Cardin stepped back confidently.

Jaune stared at the jar within his hands. _Does Cardin really want me to do this? Who in their right mind would come up with this?_ He thought back to Ruby's inspiring words of encouragement that would no doubt show him the right thing. 'Nope!' Grinned Imagination-Ruby. The blond knight's eye twitched at the adorable figment of his imagination. _You really aren't helping_.

Imagination-Ruby simpered at him, 'That's because I believe you'll make the right choice.' Jaune gasped hopefully and pointed to himself. _You really believe in me?_

Imagination-Ruby held in her laughter as she spoke her wise word once more. 'Nope!' She grinned jokingly.

"Well screw you too!" Jaune cried as he threw the jar of sap at Imagination-Ruby. Unfortunately for the poor boy, Imagination-Ruby didn't actually exist so the jar went straight through her and hit Cardin square in the face. The jar quickly broke upon impact, splattering its contents onto Cardin's face and chest.

The bully looked at his teammates briefly before growling, "You've done it now Jauney Boy." Jaune gulped as the two bullies on his sides gripped his shoulders menacingly. What had he just done? _Dust, this is the last time I'm getting Ruby's help for this kind of stuff._

Pyrrha frowned as the birds flew away from nearby, "Jaune?" She mumbled worriedly. Suddenly Ruby spoke from next to her, startling the champion.

"You okay Pyrrha?" She asked in concern. The Spartan girl sighed.

"I'm fine." She froze as she heard a loud slurping sound from behind her. The girl turned around to find that a certain teammate of hers had eater her sap. "Nora!" She exclaimed in amused annoyance.

* * *

Jaune coughed hoarsely as Cardin knocked him to the ground. "You know that wasn't very smart Jauney Boy." Frowned the leader of CRDL as he rolled his shoulders. The knight coughed as the bully picked him up, his lackeys cheering from the sidelines. "I'm going to make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces." The boy emphasised his point by shaking the beaten writer. Jaune just laughed weakly at the young man, "I don't care what you do to me, but you are _not_ messing with my team." He finished off strongly. Cardin scowled.

"What, you think talk like that makes you tough?" He growled, "You think you're a big strong man now?" The knight just smiled in response.

Irritated, the bully went in for a punch to the face only to be stopped by a bright light. He grasped his hand, surprised by the pain he felt. Jaune grinned as he stared at his glowing hands, "Force field." He murmured. Suddenly Sky kicked him to the ground from behind.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are." Threatened Cardin.

"GRAOAR!" Came a growl from the forest behind them. The boys turned to see that an Ursa Major had exited the woods. _Well… This wasn't part of the plan._ Gulped the knight.

The group stepped back in fright at the sight of the large Grimm. Cardin was visibly shaking and the others had a clear look of fear. "That's a big Ursa!" Cried one of them as the lackeys of Team CRDL ran off. Jaune blinked as Cardin was sent to the ground a couple of feet away by a single swipe from the Ursa.

"Well this sucks." He grumbled to himself. The knight was surprised however as the Ursa Major completely ignored him in favour of the sap cover boy. The blond writer facepalmed as he stood up, "The sap!" He groaned. Jaune frowned as he watched Cardin's mace get swatted out of his hands after he pulled it out of… somewhere. Checking to see that no one else was around he dashed towards the downed bully. "Cardin!" He shouted as he threw the weapon at it's owner. His eyes glowed white, "Heads up!"

Meanwhile with the rest of Team JNPR and Team RWBY, Ruby gasped as a loud noise came from the distance. "You guys hear that?" She asked the group. The six young women, one man, and Ruby –being fifteen- jumped as the remnants of Team CRDL rushed passed them.

"Ursa, Ursa!" Cried Russel as he ran, only to be stopped by Yang.

"What? Where?" The boy cowered under her glare.

"Back there, it's got Cardin!" he exclaimed before running off. Pyrrha dropped her jar in realisation.

"Jaune!" The group turned to her in surprised. Ruby frowned and started issuing orders,

"Yang, Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" The two nodded and ran,

The champion turned to her teammates, "You two go with them, there could be more." The childhood friends shook their head in confirmation as the girls took out their weapons.

Back with Jaune and Cardin, the bully was trying his damnedest to not get mauled by the bear Grimm when it knocked his weapon out of his hands… again. Before the knight could intercept, the bully was knocked off his feet and onto his stomach. Jaune was about to help him up when he noticed that Pyrrha, Ruby and Weiss had arrived. "Tch," He groaned annoyed. The knight hesitated for a moment before jumping in the way just as the Ursa Major was about to swipe, successfully blocking the blow, much to the three girls' surprise. Jaune's legs buckled slightly from the sheer strength behind the Ursa's attack. Weiss was about to interfere when the champion held her arm out,

"Wait!" She exclaimed, halting the heiress' attack. She wanted to see where this went. Jaune pushed the large paw off the top of his shield and went for a strong downwards strike to the torso of the bear Grimm, causing it to stagger backwards. Upon recovering, the Grimm threw a heavy punch at the blond knight who rolled out of the way. The writer agilely jumped over another swing from the Ursa Major that knocked up several leaves but had no time to escape from the second strike.

Jaune quickly recovered and went over his battle plan. _Block, dodge, attack, block, dodge, attack._ The knight ran back towards the large Grimm undeterred and leaped for another slash onto to be knocked away once again. _That didn't work…_ He grumbled. He really needed to learn how to fight. Getting up and glancing briefly at his aura levels the blond frowned as he noticed that he was in the red. The writer groaned, he also really needed to work on how much aura he pumped into his semblance. Not wasting anymore time the knight charged in howling a battle cry. For those watching, time slowed down as the two came to a final clash, swinging their respective weapons. Crocea Mors vs. an Ursa Major claw. Pyrrha frowned as she saw the writer's stance, with his shield down he'd definitely be hit by the claw before he could reach the bear Grimm with his sword. Making use of her semblance, she moved his shield upward enough to block the attack. Smiling proudly, she watched as Jaune took a steady footing to let the swipe glance off the shield part of Crocea Mors and went for a powerful upward arc slash, effectively beheading the Ursa in one clean motion.

Ruby glanced at the red haired girl in confusion, "Uhh… What?"

"How did you…?" Trailed off Weiss. Pyrrha just smiled at the two,

"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs, my semblance is polarity." She explained. The younger girl gasped in awe,

"You can control poles." She mumbled. Weiss giggled under her breath, _she's so adorkable_. Snapping out of her thoughts the heiress snorted,

"No you dunce, it means she has control over magnetism."

"Magnets are cool too," Mumbled the reaper. The white haired girl frowned as the champion began to walk off.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Ruby tilted her head in confusion, "Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened!" Pyrrha smirked at the two,

"We could, or perhaps we could just keep it our little secret."

Jaune sighed in relief as he sheathed his sword, he'd have to thank Pyrrha for saving his behind. But that could be settled at a later date, for now… The knight extended a hand to the fallen bully. Cardin smiled slightly and accepted it, "Holy crap Jaune-"

"Don't mess with my team, my friends, ever again." Demanded the knight heroically, "Got it?"

The bully laughed, "They're gone." Jaune collapsed to his knees in exhaustion.

"Oh thank dust. If being a Hunter doesn't work out you could always become an actor. How did you _do_ that for so long?" The 'bully' shrugged.

"Well it helped that I was already a bully before all of… this." Jaune laughed.

"Yeah, uh, we gotta talk about some of that stuff."

Cardin looked at the knight in confusion. "Stuff?"

The knight nodded seriously, "Yeah, you went a bit overboard a couple of times. I mean, you didn't have to include Velvet."

"The bunny Faunus chick? Uh yea, sorry about that, but Sky started it and I couldn't do anything about it or else I'd risk blowing our cover. Then again, I did see you walking after her, so good on you!" He laughed as he pat Jaune's back. "Also, what happened to the plan? You were supposed to throw the jar at the floor beneath us so the Rapier Wasps would chase us off and you could go hang with your friends." Jaune laughed sheepishly,

"Yeah, uh, blame Imagination-Ruby for that."

"Um… what?" Asked Cardin confused.

"Nevermind."

Jaune sighed as he and his 'bully' walked to the rendezvous point slowly. "Really sorry that this happened." He apologised. Here Cardin was, helping him with research, and he nearly got the guy killed by an Ursa.

The boy just laughed it off, "Don't sweat it, we're buddies now. Though I think I might lay off on the fake-bullying for a while. It's really ruining my rep, and your hammer-crazy friend might break my legs." Jaune joined in the laughing.

"Thanks, I'll definitely get you those signed copies of the new Jane Caur series. I'll also try to stop my friends from roasting you as well." Cardin smirked,

"Think you'd be able to handle it?"

Jaune smiled at him, "Like you said, we're buddies. But you may want to set your team straight. If you need any help you can just come to my team."

"Thanks." The two bumped fists and separated, they were nearing the rendezvous point and still needed to keep appearances up after all.

* * *

Jaune stood outside of Beacon on the roof where he and Pyrrha had that fight. The knight had been thinking of recent events and realised he had a lot of apologising to do. He sighed as he remembered the reason all of this started to begin with.

_Flashback_

"You want me to what?" He asked over the phone to his editor.

The orange haired man sighed, "Look kid, recently the media's gone crazy over bullied kid sap stories and I want in. So try and make a series circled around a teen who gets bullied, then meets his crush and the two get together after overcoming the bully." Jaune rolled his eyes.

"That sounds highly unrealistic and even if it was, I don't know what it's like to be bullied. I have seven overprotective sisters." Roman groaned,

"I don't know kid, you love getting research for your stories right? You live in a school for dusts sake, just get some random asshat to start picking on you. I don't care how, just make it happen." He hung the phone. Jaune sighed, where was he going to find someone to 'bully' him? _Oh well_, he frowned. He had Combat Class next so he'd have to think of the solution later.

On the other side of the phone Neo glared at her surrogate father. Roman laughed nervously,

"Wh-whatever do you mean? I'm not attempting to get him hurt just because he tried to seduce my little girl, what are you talking about?" The ice cream themed woman's glare harshened. "… You can't prove anything!" He exclaimed as he pointed dramatically at her before jumping out of a window. The woman smiled menacingly at his retreating body, _once he comes back he is in for a world of pain_. Her little brother tilted his head in confusion,

"Sis, why did he jump out of the window?" He asked, "It's the one hundredth and seventy fourth time he'd tried to hurt your author through his love of research. You'd think he'd learn that nothing get's past my awesome older sis!" Neo smiled at the young boy and ruffled his hair. She could only hope that her cute little author didn't do anything stupid.

* * *

_This is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done_. Thought Jaune to himself as grabbed Cardin by the shoulder. "What do _you_ want?" He growled to the knight.

Jaune smiled, "Just wanted to talk." He had seen the boy's true thoughts during the fight using his semblance. There was only one thing to do, have Cardin Winchester help with his research and become a cliché bullied student. "I want you to help me research."

The larger boy gave him a look. "No thanks, I'd prefer not to do any work." Jaune laughed,

"But Cardin, you don't have to do anything but bully me, and you get the latest Jane Caur series signed for your mom as well as a proper friend that you can show her."

Cardin frowned, how did he know this? He was sure he hadn't told anyone about that. "… Who are you?"

The writer smirked knowingly. "I'm just a regular student who has connections and a special semblance that I used during our match." Cardin stared skeptically at the blond,

"Explain." He demanded.

"Well take a seat, 'cause this might take a bit." After the two sat down in the stands Jaune began to explain. "So, first of all my semblance. It gives me a form of control over the electro/neurochemical signals within my body. You know, the ones used by your brain to send 'messages' that allow you body to function. But only _my _ones." He clarified, Cardin nodded slowly. "You have no idea how long it took for me to figure out what it was at nine years old, and training it was a pain. Anyway, I have found two ways to utilise this.  
Firstly, I can use it to accelerate my thinking speed to the point where I can process information quickly. Using this I can formulate plans quickly and it also enhances my senses to something similar to a Faunus by increasing the strength in which the signals coming from the sensory nerves are received. Got it so far?" Cardin sighed, he understood to an extent, but it was a lot to take in at once.  
"Right, well I can also use it to get a 'snapshot' per say of how another person thinks. By touching, or 'tagging', a person or being with a brain I can send an electrochemical signal through their body and back to mine. This gives me an idea of what a person was thinking at the time, how their thoughts are processed along with a handful of memories that they may have thought about recently." Explained the writer. "Basically, I can get a general idea of how that person would react or think during a situation, though this is limited to things that they know during the snapshot. I also have to have physical contact with whatever I connect to with my semblance in order to use it." The stronger boy sat dazed with the large amount of info to process.

"So let me get this straight. You can read people's minds by touching their skin, you can think like a genius and you can have Faunus senses all thanks to your semblance?"

"… More or less yeah." Cardin gave him an annoyed look,

"Well, while that is over powered and all, why are you telling _me_ this?"

Jaune smiled, "During our match I used my semblance to make sure you weren't planning a counter attack but I used too much aura and saw what you were thinking. I learned that you aren't a horrible guy. I mean, what bad person wants to get his mum a present for no reason other than because he can?"

The leader of Team CRDL flushed in embarrassment. "Y-you saw that?"

"That and your mom wants you to turn a new leaf, so she wants you to show her someone who is 'normal'. Though I'm kind of ticked that you were thinking of that and not the actual fight." Cardin frowned.

"… So what do I have to do to get those books?"

Jaune smirked triumphantly, "I want you to bully me."

"I don't know _why_ you want me to, and I won't ask. But I won't bully you."

The blond writer blinked, "Huh?"

The 'bully-to-be' crossed his arms, "I came to this school because of my mom. I wanted to stop being a bully for her. I'm not going to start for a stupid book." Jaune frowned, he hadn't seen this in the bullies thoughts. It must've been something he wanted to keep private.

"Even if it's _for_ your mother?"

"… Fine, I'll humour you. But if it turns out you can't get me those books, tell my mom about this or you don't pretend to be my 'normal friend' that she wants, you'll wish that I kept bullying you." Jaune smirked,

"Glad you saw it my way… Buddy."

_Flashback End_

Jaune was snapped out of his reminiscent thoughts as he heard the door behind him open up. "No Cardin tonight?" Asked a feminine voice from the direction of the door. Jaune stayed silent as the soft noise of shoes slowly made their way towards him. "I thought you were best buds." The knight turned to his left to see his beautiful partner. He gave her an apologetic look,

"Pyrrha." He started, "I'm sorry. I was a jerk. You were only trying to be nice and, I-I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head and, I got too caught up in research and wanting to be a hero that I forgot the biggest reason I came to Beacon." The champion gave him a confused look.

"Research?"

Jaune nearly choked, "Uh, forget I said that." Pyrrha looked at him sceptically but decided to follow his wishes. If recent events have taught her anything, it's that ultimately, Jaune will tell her everything.

She chuckled warmly at the knight, "Jaune. It's okay." The two shared a smile. "Your team really misses their leader you know?" The girl turned and began to walk towards the door. "You should come down. Ren made pancakes~" Jaune laughed at the next sentence, "No syrup though, you can thank Nora for that." The writer reached out a hand to his partner,

"Wait!" He paused hesitantly, timidly grabbing his right arm. "I know I don't deserve it with all that happened, but… Would you still be willing to help me… To help me become a better fighter!" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I'm still new to this, and I'm not exactly the best right now. I have no technique and I don't even last that long, but if I want to do it with anyone… I want it to be you." Pyrrha turned around, seemingly as if to think about it, but in reality she was trying to hide the fact that she was on the verge of a nosebleed… and fainting. _Does he not know how suggestive that last sentence was?_ She cried mentally. Shaking the perverted thoughts from her head, she rolled her eyes and sauntered over to her annoyingly oblivious partner.

Before Jaune could say anything he found himself on the ground. "Hey!"

Pyrrha smirked superiorly, she was going to have fun with this. "Your stance is all wrong, you need to be wider and lower to the ground." She 'lectured' as she held her hands against her hips. The writer smiled and accepted her hand up. "Let's try that again."

From below Cardin couldn't help but smirk. _Looks like everything's coming up Jauney Boy._ Now to deal with his team…

* * *

**Well that was… a thing. So, for those who haven't realised it yet. This was almost exactly like Canon, except Cardin is actually a good guy who's helping Jaune get research because Roman doesn't like him being around his daughter! This chapter and the last were fairly similar to Canon bar a few differences, but that was because it was the best way (In my eyes) to make a good-guy-Cardin whilst also shoving in a truckload of character development. Sure I could have executed it in a cleaner way, but unsurprisingly enough: I'm still a novice writer and this is my first ever fanfic. Not as experienced as most.  
A lot was shown in the past few chapters, how Jaune got his aura, the fact that Roman's overprotective of Neo and Cardin's a momma's boy, introduction of Velvet, Jaune's semblance, Jaune's lack of fighting experience, the fact that Jaune loves his books and will stop at nothing to get proper research. I mean he got 'bullied' for several weeks because Roman told him to. There are a lot of other things but that would be telling.**

**Also, jeez this was a long chapter. I admit I could've done things better, but this is what I've done with the two-ish months of writing Fanfic experience I have. Hopefully this chapter explains a lot about past events, but if you're still confused please PM me and don't ask through a review because it's easier to answer you through a PM than a review response.  
That said, if you enjoyed or are interested please Favourite, Follow and Review, and tell me what I did well and how I can improve!**

**Lastly, after next chapter I will be resuming my usual schedule of one chapter per one or two weeks, because this fast updating is taking a lot out of me, and I can tell it's affecting my writing skills.  
So, hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy my story!**

**Anyone who can guess a specific reference gets a jar of Forever Fall sap! As long as you aren't like Jaune of course and have an _interesting _reaction to it...**


	10. Chapter 10- A harmless trip to Vale

**What's up everyone? I'm back with another chapter of Jaune's Guilty Pleasure! Just want to tell you all I did not realise that my Fanfic would become this popular, it's pretty damn amazing! I'd just like to thank everyone for reading and enjoying my story, because I'm glad you do.**

**If you couldn't tell already, I will be resuming my usual schedule of one update every 1-2 weeks. Sorry, but my break time is over and work will be hell on earth. That and new anime are out and a lot of them look pretty good. Though this was supposed to come out earlier, I just had some difficulty with the site and my internet, so some of the things I edited didn't save which meant I had to find the mistakes all over again as well as add in all the extra bits I put up whilst editing. So, really sorry if there are any mistakes that I didn't spot.**

**That's enough of that, Review response time!**

**GareththeGod (Guest):** No, sorry, that wasn't the reference but thanks for the praise!

**NinjaFang1331:** Thank you!

**MysteryOfOrigin:** Thanks, though the secret may not be revealed for a while.

**Cloy552:** I'm glad you liked it. More or less yeah, that's Jaune's semblance.

**Wanderer No.96:** Thank you!

**Benthino:** Thank you, funny times will be coming at Jaune's expense, hehehe.

**dracohalo117: **Yes, yes he is.

**SMxABULM:** I do enjoy writing this, and I enjoy it so much more knowing that people like to read it.

**AzureStorms:** I'm actually surprised that no one saw the plot twist coming. In case you didn't realise, Cardin never bullied Jaune when no one was around during my story. I always put someone within vision when he did, going as far as to mention it each time.

**Bonestar:** CRAZY!

**garoorar:** Yeah, good guy momma's boy Cardin seemed too good to pass up. Funny you say that, because more sap-Jaune is coming up. Semblance OP.  
Also, because Jaune writes smut some of the things he says are just second nature. That and it's funny.

**Guest (Guest):** Thank you!

**Eramis8:** Hoorah for plot twists, and thanks!

**Paladin73 (Guest):** Thanks for the praise!

**lukefang:** Great pickup, and thanks!

**daniel8472:** Thank you, I really try. Someone else has found the joys of White Hot Chocolate! Muahahahaha!

**RyoTheSaiyan:** Nice pickup, haha, look forward to the chapters because I'll try to make them especially funny.

**Isodrink:** The main reasons why I repeated Canon, other than the obvious, was because I wanted to show how some characters had changed from the Canon or reacted slightly differently. It wasn't a major change, not by a longshot, but it was a change nonetheless that occurred from Jaune's change of character.

**And that is all! Thank you all for reading, so onto the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any mentioned/referenced franchises. They all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 10- A harmless trip to Vale.

Ruby frowned as she sat down next to her first friend at Beacon. Jaune appeared to be incredibly tired despite the advice she had given him a few nights ago. They had Combat Class now and the cute reaper was worried about how the exhaustion would affect his performance. "Hey Jaune, are you okay?" She asked concernedly.

From beside the girl, Yang nodded. "She's right, you don't look so hot Vomit Boy."

The knight smiled sleepily as he answered the sisters. "Yeah I'm fine, it's just… I was up all night." He replied in-between yawns. Pyrrha's training really took a toll on him, especially so since it's a lot harsher than his usual run and push up 'till you drop regime.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion, "Why?" She asked curiously. What reason did her fellow leader have for being up so late?

The blond boy stifled another yawn as he began to explain, or rather, complain. "Pyrrha's a slave driver." He stated simply with a tired expression. "She kept me up for the whole night and wouldn't take no for an answer." The writer groaned as he rolled his sore arm that he may or may not have landed on... several times over.

"…" The two girls just stared at him blankly. Yang blushed, _There's no way they did _that_... right?_

"Did she have to be so rough? I mean, I'm pretty new to this." He complained, "I'm sore in places I didn't even know you could feel sore in!" Several audible pops resounded around the arena as the boy stretched his back, catching the attention of a few of the students around them.

"…"

The writer sighed, "I mean, we went at it for hours on end without a single break and she _still_ wasn't tired. She has the stamina of a goddess I tell you." _Seriously, how did she do that?_

"…"

Jaune laughed tiredly, "She taught me how to position my body to have the most effect when clashing with someone else as well." The boy kept making motions with his hands to further emphasise his plight but the girls payed no mind and focussed on his vague descriptions of the previous nights events.

"…"

"And then she took out the whip!" The blond knight shivered unconsciously, "I didn't even know that a whip could do things like that… Ruby? Ruby!" The boy stopped as he realised that Ruby had fainted whilst Yang was trying to wake her up and cover the large nosebleed she had at the same time. Jaune looked on worriedly at the rose as she sat limp with a dazed expression. _Why did she faint? Did she not get enough sleep as well?_

The blond girl her sister, "Ruby stay strong!" She cried with her hand to her nose.

"Jaune… And Pyrrha…" Moaned the young rose in her comatose state.

Jaune, finally putting two and two together, gasped in realisation at the reaper's misunderstanding. "We were training Ruby! TRAINING!" He shouted as he shook the downed female.

The girl lifted her head up weakly, "Training?"

"Yes Ruby. _Training_." He said as he nodded vehemently, emphasising 'training'.

From the stage Glynda called out to the students, the previous match having finished, "Next match is Jaune and Pyrrha." The champion smiled coyly at her partner who gulped audibly at her action,

The red headed girl smirked, "Don't worry Jaune, I'll be gentler than last night."

Ruby fainted again.

* * *

A certain rose blushed as she thought back to the events of earlier today. The girl was sat in the next class bored out of her mind when her thoughts drifted to a blond knight. She turned to the main cause of the event as Professor Poop-er, _Port_ droned on about his adventures in the depths of Emerald Forest, far past the area sanctioned for students during initiation. Her blush darkened as she noticed the boy's thoughtful expression, was he thinking about the events prior as well? Oh dust was it embarrassing.

Meanwhile, Jaune gulped audibly to himself as he remembered what had transpired that morning, and it wasn't the large misunderstanding by the adorable reaper. Hopefully, tomorrow would go well.

_Flashback_

Jaune stared ahead of him with a tired expression on his face as he opened the door to see the black haired member of Team RWBY. _What would she want at this hour?_ He thought to himself. Quickly checking his scroll he gasped as he realised it was- "4:30!" He cried, why did she wake him up at this undustly hour? Blake flinched at his outburst and hurriedly put her hand over his mouth to silence him, making a shush gesture with her free hand. "Oh, sorry. Uh, what's up pussycat?" He asked. The bookworm flinched again and began to squirm uncomfortably, a blush present on her face as she appeared hesitant to say her piece despite it being seemingly important. Jaune blushed at the implications, _Think Jaune. What could it mean? A cute and beautiful young woman is at your doorstep, blushing like mad, and dressed in rather _fine_ nightwear… hot dust._ The writer's brow raised unconsciously as he gazed at her interesting choice of sleepwear, not realising his semblance had activated once more and was set to 'observe'.

The knight took note of how well the black Yukata framed her body- he shook the thoughts from his head and stopped his semblance. _That was enough! I'm not going to perve on my friends… anymore!_ He exclaimed mentally, _I will not let Neo be right!_ "Even if she _is_ more beautiful than a delicate flower under moonlight… Wait, did I say that out loud?" The writer quickly covered his mouth as he realised his mistake. The ninja-girl blushed at him, she was right in the middle of explaining her predicament when he had to go and say something like that.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" She flushed. _Where did that even come from? In fact, who was he even saying that to?_

Jaune stuttered incoherently before taking a deep breath and speaking once more. "I, uh, could you repeat what you said?" The introvert gave him a sceptic look before reciting her story once more. "So what you're saying is, you want me to go into Vale tomorrow with you to get the latest Jane Caur novel, because you can't ask anyone else?" The girl nodded, Yang was of course Yang, Weiss would most definitely not approve of her literature choices, Ruby and Amethyst wouldn't be able to keep it from Yang, she wasn't exactly that close with the other members of Team JNPR and she didn't want to go by herself. Jaune shrugged casually, "Sur I'll go with you. But you came to ask me in _this_," He gestured towards her strange choice of clothing. "Why?" Blake frowned, what's so bad about her Yukata? Upon noticing her discomfort the blond mended his previous statement. "There isn't anything wrong with it per say, but isn't it a bit much- scratch that, _not enough?_" The introvert blinked, what did he mean by that? Looking to her clothes the girl realised, to her horror, that something was wrong. She was wearing her _other_ Yukata that Yang had gifted her not too long ago as a prank and showed a rather embarrassing amount of skin. That blond woman would be the death of her. Actually, how did she not notice that she slept in this? She could've sworn that... _YANG! _She growled mentally. Wait, Jaune was still- The embarrassed girl slowly looked towards Jaune to see that he was standing too close for comfort. Blake's blush deepened,

"I… I-I… PERVERT!" She cried before knocking him back into his room with a slap and running across the hall into hers. Jaune sighed, he should've seen that one coming. It was literally a scene out of the second chapter of the third Ninja's of Love, so it would make sense that she'd subconsciously repeat it. That said, hot _dust_ was that a view to behold. The knight sighed tiredly, back to sleep with him.

_Flashback End_

Jaune smiled to himself, maybe he'd be able to see LittleMissPublisher and his editor in Vale. The blond writer was woken from his musings when Nora began to poke his cheek repeatedly. "Hey Jaune-Jaune Arc, whatcha looking at?" Asked the hyperactive girl curiously. The blond sighed as he turned to answer his teammate. He was still a bit too sleepy for her antics.

"For one, could you please stop calling me that? I told you, its just Jaune." The Valkyrie nodded slowly. "And as for what I'm looking at, I'm staring out the window at that pink rainbow."

"But Glorious Leader! There aren't any windows in this room." The knight blinked and gazed around the room. _Huh, so there aren't… Wait, then how come there's a pink light coming from the wall?_ Nora grinned and bopped her palm with a closed fist comically. "You must not be feeling well! Don't worry, I got something for your sickness. I brought some Forever Fall sap!" Cheered the girl as she stuffed some into her mouth. "You wanth thum?" She asked with her mouth full. _Oh, that's why__…__ Oh dear…_ He thought to himself as he stared at the sap, his eyes slowly going out of focus. "Oh! Glorious Leader! I had the most amazing idea!" Jaune grinned drunkenly as the girl explained her idea to him.

"That. Sounds. Awesome. As the leader of Team JNPR I, Jaune Arc, say we shall enact plan 'The One in The Hole!'" The two high fived.

* * *

To this day, no one knew how Jaune and Nora managed to free Edgar and destroy half the teacher's lounge with the unconscious body of Professor Port, nor did they know where they got a sloth shaped boulder the size of an Ursa, but to be honest did any of them_ want_ to know? Either way, it happened and Jaune was now lying down on a beanbag in the library, still very much out of it and not himself despite it being several hours after his initial exposure to the sap.  
To his surprise, Snow Angel of all people approached him. "So~ How's your day going?" She asked with sarcasm dripping from her voice. Jaune smiled, _Snow Angel's finally warming up to me!_ "You're looking pretty relaxed there buddy." The knight was internally cheering, she called him buddy!

"Pretty good, pretty good. This beanbag feels amazing." Sighed Jaune, uncharacteristically relaxed for once. Weiss' eye twitched.

"Right... You want to know what I've been doing for the past few hours?" Jaune shrugged, _why not?_ "I was being scolded for the History homework we were supposed to do two hours ago!" She growled. Why Doctor Oobleck thought it was a good idea to pair her with this dolt was beyond her. "And thanks to you, we have to redo all four of them, plus two more, before next lesson." The knight nodded.

"Okay." The heiress blinked confused with his simple answer.

"Alright, spill. What's wrong? You're way too… Laid back." Normally the blond would be all over the place worrying, so what was going on? Jaune sighed contently as he wriggled further into the beanbag.

"Well the sap wore off and I had some time to kill before I went to work on the homework with you, so I had a bite to eat at Nora's Sloth Shack. Turns out she put some more Forever Fall sap in my waffle and now everything's just… _great_." He groaned happily as he stretched his arms over the blue beanbag.

Weiss grew a tick mark, "Oh, my, dust. I can't believe this! You're the one that insisted on doing it later, and then you go and-"

Jaune smiled at his Snow Angel, "Weiss, Weiss, Weiss. Look okay, I get it. You had a really tough day, you're stressed out, you have four essays to do-"

"_Six_ essays!"

Jaune rolled his eyes and put his arms behind his head. "Not the point. They have to be finished next lesson now, and really, who's fault is that?"

"YOURS!"

Jaune closed his eyes nonchalantly, "That's right, _no ones_. So why don't you lie down, relax, and watch the stars with me?" Weiss' tick mark grew,

"It's four in the afternoon and we're _indoors_! There are no stars!" Growled the heiress, stomping on the wooden floor with impatience.

Jaune smirked and relaxed, "Only if you're looking with your eyes."

Weiss groaned at the knight, "What the dust is that supposed to mean?"

"Only one way to find out." Mumbled the blond. The white haired girl glared at the now sleeping boy, ticked off beyond belief.

"You'd better go back to normal soon so I can kick your teeth in."

* * *

Weiss yawned as she got off of the beanbag she had been taking a rather pleasant nap on. Rubbing her left eye the girl looked up to see an amused Jaune looking pleased with himself as he sat casually on a seat before her. The boy put on a smug grin that practically screamed he had done something to her in her sleep. "Hey sleepyhead~ How was your- gah!" He was interrupted as Weiss drew Myrtenaster from… somewhere, and pointed it directly at his face.

"Tell me what you did _right now_, and you may live." Jaune yelped and whimpered behind his chair,

"I drew whiskers on your face!" He cried in fear, _Why does she keep pulling that thing out?_

Weiss paused, "Um… What?" _Is he really that childish?_

"I drew cat whiskers on your face like I always did with Opal because I thought it would be funny and it was!" He explained with a frightened tone to his voice.

"Is… Is that all?" Asked the girl as she lowered her dust rapier slowly.

The knight blinked confusedly, "Um, yeah? You were asleep, what else would I have done?" Weiss blushed, _how does he not know? Doesn't he read that blasted smut along with Yang and Blake?_

"W-well, y'know… Y-you could've… Uh." Stuttered the girl between incoherent mumbles. "You want to start on that History work now?" Jaune grinned,

"Thought you'd never ask Snow Angel- er, Weiss." He quickly corrected his statement as the heiress pulled out her Multi-Action Dust Rapier again.

The two spent the next few hours working on the essays and Weiss was actually surprised that Jaune was able to type so quickly, and that he was able to put information together immediately after she recited them. As much as she hated to admit it, the two made a good team. Weiss was the one who knew everything whilst Jaune would effortlessly sort the information into an essay structure, quickly type it all down and effectively meet all the criteria. Though when she asked why his eyes were glowing he just responded by saying that it was an allergic reaction to the sap, along with his rather uncharacteristic behaviour.

"I must say Jaune, you're rather good at this." She commented as they finished off the next essay. The Arc grinned,

"Aww, is that a compliment Snow Angel?" Teased the boy as he poked her shoulder.

"It'll be the last you'll ever hear if you keep acting like that." Growled the heiress, pulling out Myrtenaster again.

"Y-Yes ma'am." He gulped.

Weiss was internally over the moon with their progress, who knew Jaune was this good at coming to conclusions? The dolt had somehow managed to help her finish five essays in the matter of a few hours. All that was left was the one on-  
"The Faunus Rights Movement…" She mumbled. Jaune frowned at the expression on her face,

"Is there something wrong with the Faunus?… Faunuses, Faunus', Fauni, Faun- _you get the point_." He asked curiously, his Snow Angel seemed troubled and he wanted to sooth her worries. Besides, she knew a Faunus so she can't be against Faunus kind, after all, she hadn't been mean to Velvet. The heiress looked away slightly,

"I'd… rather not talk about it right now." She mumbled. The knight's frown deepened but he decided not to pursue it. She'd tell her friends eventually when she was ready and besides and he wasn't even her teammate, but that doesn't mean he couldn't give her a nudge,

"Alright Snow Angel, but just remember, I'm always ears if you need 'em. Unless someone gives me Forever Fall sap. If that's the case then you'd better run." The heiress chuckled lightly and smiled thankfully at the knight.

"I'll… I'll keep that in mind. Though stop calling me that detestable nickname."

The blond writer grinned, "Whatever you say… Snow Angel!" Weiss blinked rapidly, for a moment Yang's face replaced the knight's. Jaune laughed playfully as she began throwing random books at him.

"I swear, you and Yang are two birds of a feather." She frowned. Their humour was somewhat similar and it irritated her, even if she wasn't entirely sure why. The boy laughed once more and ducked under the front desk before exiting the library. The white haired girl huffed, crossing her arms as she did so, "Good riddance… Wait, we still haven't finished the essay! Jaune YOU DUNCE!" She cried.

Unfortunately for the heiress, Jaune was already long gone. The boy smiled as he casually walking into Nora's Slothasaur Park a couple minutes later. He ordered for a white hot chocolate at the concession stand and sat down. How Nora managed to do this was beyond him, but he had to admit it was pretty cool. The blond writer grinned as he noticed Amethyst strolling by. "What's up?" He waved, "Haven't seen you in a while." The purple haired girl blinked in confusion as she approached him.

"What do you mean? I saw you a couple of hours ago when I had to stop you from ordering twenty margarita pizzas doused in white chocolate in the library." Jaune blushed slightly in embarrassment. Had he really done that?

The blond grinned, "I'm sorry about that, but I can't be held responsible for Sap-influenced Jaune. That guy's an idiot." The librarian chuckled and took a seat on the white chair across from Jaune.

"But aren't you the same person?"

The two smiled and shared a quick laugh, "So how have you been lately, sans the whole sap ordeal. Yeah… Pyrrha told me about that." The knight sighed and took a sip from his delicious drink.

"Well a lot has happened, but I made a new friend so that's cool." Amethyst grinned at him and leaned forward,

"Is it Velvet?" She queried 'innocently'. Jaune nearly spit out his drink as the girl before him wiggled her brow suggestively.

"H-how did you know?" He stuttered after swallowing down the rest of the chocolate. The librarian laughed melodically.

"I'm actually pretty good friends with her and her team myself, and lately she's been talking about a certain _handsome_ blond knight in shining armour coming to her rescue." Jaune blushed as he timidly twirled the spoon in his chocolate drink. Did she really think that of him or was Amethyst just teasing?

"Y-you're joking, right?" He stammered out. The older girl just gave him a teasing grin,

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. You'll have to ask Velv to find out." The knight gulped audible, he was curious but he didn't want to ask the bunny girl directly. That was asking for trouble. He thought back to the brunette rabbit, he hadn't spoken to her since their first interaction despite them being in the same History class. It was pretty interesting seeing her in his class but he was mostly distracted by the whole Cardin situation. "Jaune?" The writer flinched backwards as Amethyst's hand was suddenly waving before him, "Remnant to Jaune."

He chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry, I was distracted with my thoughts. What were you saying?" The girl pouted,

"_As. I. Was. Saying_, do you have any plans for the weekend?" She asked with a tinge of annoyance in her voice, "Velv and I were planning on having some fun in the library but we need more people for some of the games I got stored out back. So I was wondering if you could ask some of your friends if they could go?" Jaune smiled apologetically as he rubbed his neck.

"S-sorry, but I actually have plans for Saturday. I could probably get Yang, Ruby and my team on board, but Weiss hates my guts right now and Blake might not be able to go either." Amethyst tilted her head a fraction to the right, her long purple hair draping around her shoulders from the action.

"Why wouldn't Blake be able to go?" Jaune laughed nervously,

"J-just a hunch. I'll ask her just in case, hahaha…" The boy was inwardly panicking, this was the first time he was ever personally in this situation but it had happened many times in the books he read. Someone was going to misunderstand and he and Blake were going to be forced to run around Vale in an attempt to hide from him or her. Then people are going to get ideas and Blake would hate him forever because they'd end up at an awkward place and-

Jaune's negative imagination was stopped as the librarian stood up abruptly. "Alright then, if you're ever at the library during my shift just stop by and say hello!" With that the purple haired girl left. The writer sighed; hopefully she didn't get the wrong idea. Either way, he had to go get ready for tomorrow as the day was coming to an end.

* * *

Yang blinked at the enraged heiress before her as the girl paced angrily back and forth. "What's wrong with you?" She asked curiously. Ruby nodded from her bed, her partner looked like someone stole the last cookie. Weiss scowled,

"That blond dunce, not you for once Yang, had the gall to leave me in the library without finishing our assignment!" The buxom boxer frowned, it wasn't like her fellow blond to leave a friend alone.

"What happened before he left?"

The white haired girl's fury froze for a moment as she blushed, remembering the kind words he had said. "We finished our other five essays when he called me that blasted nickname again despite all the times I have told him not to, that is one-hundred and seventy four times in case you were wondering." Yang nodded and rose a brow slowly, that couldn't be all.

"And?..." She motioned to carry on.

"… And, I may have thrown a myriad of books at the dolt…" Ruby blinked and rested her head on her hands,

"Wait, so he worked on your project with you, and now you're angry at him because he ran away after you started throwing books at him? Sorry Weiss, but it sounds like you're in the wrong here." Commented the adorable leader. The white haired girl flushed,

"Wha- that is simply preposterous! I, uh… It was his fault in the first place for not assisting me initially!"

"Was it his fault that Nora practically drugged him?" Chimed Yang. Weiss frowned and avoided the blond girl's gaze. She fiddled with her fingers in thought,

"… No I suppose not. Perhaps you are right and it may have possibly been my fault. All right, as a Schnee I must take my mistake in stride and work to make amends. If you two will excuse me I must apolo-" The heiress began to choke, "ap- apolog… I must apolo-… Admit there is a possibility that I was wrong." Ruby giggled at her partner, it was cute she couldn't bring herself to say apologise. Yang, however, was recording the entire thing on her camcorder that she pulled out of… Somewhere.

Ignoring her teammates the white haired girl exited their shared room and walked briskly across the hall to the JNPR dorm room in order to speak with their leader. Wanting to get this over with quickly the girl slammed open the door, eyes shut as she brought herself to ap- apo- apologise to the blond knight.

"U-uh Jaune. I'd just like to say that… My actions within the library may have been a little… uncalled for." She apologised as she began to twirl her hair nervously like a tsundere. "A-as such, it is o-only right for me as a Schnee to make amends. So, Jaune Arc, I will a-allow you to accompany me to Vale t-tomorrow for the day. B-but don't get t-too excited, i-it isn't a da-date!" After the heiress managed to stutter out her spiel she sighed. The 'high and mighty' girl cracked open one of her eyes smugly to see the more than likely ecstatic handsome smile of the leader of JNPR. To her surprise Jaune was not only smiling apologetically, but he was also only wearing a pair of boxers. The young man was surprisingly toned, showing it off as he held up two shirts to the mirror as if trying to decide the better of the two.

"Hehe, sorry Snow Angel but I'm kind of busy tomorrow. But if you really want to make it up to me then could you hang with Amethyst, Velvet and our teams tomorrow in the library?" He asked as he put down the two shirts. "S-Snow Angel?" Jaune walked over to the silent girl and waved his hand before her, "You okay?" The boy was completely oblivious to the fact that he wasn't exactly wearing much. He quickly held a palm to her forehead as he compared their temperatures. The heiress blushed heavily at their close proximity. _What is that d-d-dunce doing?_ She cried mentally. "Weiss I think you're coming down with a fever! Scratch my request Snow Angel, I want you to take the weekend off and get plenty of rest so you recover quickly." He said seriously. The white haired girl was on meltdown as he brain refused to function.

"I-I-I-I-I" She muttered incoherently. "P-P-PERVERT!" Cried Weiss. Jaune blinked as he flew backwards further into the room, _she just slapped me!_ Quickly coming to the rescue, their teammates ran in as they heard the scream.

"What's going o- _whoa_ Vomit Boy. I didn't know you worked out." Commented Yang as she entered the room. The girl nodded appreciatively, analysing every inch of the boy before her, "Yang likes, Yang likes~" She purred. The rest of the group hastily ran in confused, what was the boxer talking abou-

Blake and Ruby blushed heavily and tried to hide behind their hands, leaving a small gap between their fingers to peek through. Pyrrha and Yang were actively trying to stop the approaching nosebleed, Ren was all out laughing at his friend's misfortune and Nora was cheering for their leader.

"Woo! Go Jaune, you rock those boxers." The knight blinked, _boxers?_ Looking down he realised, to his horror, that he was only wearing his boxers. He quickly thanked his male friend as the silent boy handed him his blue onesie.

"Th-thanks Ren…" He mumbled embarrassedly. The blushing knight bowed to his friends apologetically, "I'm sorry!" He cried before rushing into their dorm bathroom. Back in the dorm room the current inhabitants were silent, with Weiss still broken whilst being fanned down by Ruby and Blake. Finally recovering from her initial meltdown, the heiress gasped as she realised something. She was just turned down by the blond leader. Her, _Weiss Schnee_, was turned down by Jaune Arc. The girl stiffened. Yang blinked, "What's wrong Princess?" She asked, blocking her bleeding nose with tissues.

The heiress slowly turned to her teammate. "He… He turned me down."

The entire group stared at the white haired girl in confusion, "What?"

"I said I'd allow him to accompany me to Vale for the day tomorrow and he turned me down." Explained the flabbergasted girl. Pyrrha silently cheered, Yang stood surprised that Weiss asked him that and that he said _no_. Blake flinched, _well this is a thing_, she thought to herself. Quickly, quietly, and without being noticed, the introvert snuck away to avoid being pulled into this mess. Ren, having the same idea, grabbed his childhood friend and towed her away, making sure to cover her mouth to silence her as he ran off.

Ruby smiled comfortingly at her partner as she put a hand on her shoulder, "He probably just has something important to do."

"What if some other girl asked him out first and he said yes?" Mumbled Pyrrha worriedly. The four girls froze. Upon further thought that was the most logical way to explain why.

Ruby cocked her head slightly, "But why would he say yes? If it was someone we knew we'd probably have heard of it."

Weiss just laughed maniacally, her hair slightly a mess. "He-he's obviously just doing this to try and get to me! Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha! You ladies must assist me in bringing this mystery to light!" Pyrrha and Yang nodded. They weren't jealous that some girl might have asked Jaune out, they were just curious is all… Yeah, that's it… Curious. Ruby on the other hand wanted to be there for her partner and decided to join in. The four left the dorm room to scheme.

Jaune felt a shiver run down his spine as he put his blue onesie on, he had a bad feeling.

* * *

Yang frowned. It was the next day and she, Weiss, Pyrrha, Ruby, Amethyst and Velvet were all hiding behind a bush close to the airship port. Unfortunately the bush wasn't the largest of flora and could barely hide all of them but it appeared to get the job done. The six females stared intently at their target as he hesitantly entered the airship.

The boxer's frown deepened as they entered the ship. It was 10am and her black haired partner was nowhere to be found, so she just assumed she was at Nora's Slothcake Restaurant downing cups of white hot chocolate. Yang shrugged, gazing at her prey. _Oh well, she's missing out on all the fun._ Jaune was dressed in surprisingly casual attire. The weather was fairly warm so he adorned a blue and black open collared shirt over a white cotton tee. The blond boy also wore a pair of black jeans and had his hair in its usual mess. Yang whistled to herself. _Wow, Vomit Boy cleans up well. He actually looks rather dashing._ Weiss just stared at the two new girls, "Remind me why you two came with us again?" She asked the newcomers. Amethyst grinned,

"Well I wanted to hang with you gals, but something Jaune said yesterday interested me. It's just coincidence that you were tailing him too." She explained, "Oh, and Velv's here because I am. That and because a certain dashing knight caught her eye." She winked at the rabbit Faunus suggestively causing the timid girl to blush.

"Amy!" She cried embarrassedly. Several of the girls laughed at the brunette's expense as the airship began to lift off. The heiress' piercing blue eyes stared over at the blond boy from across the airship as she peeked past her newspaper.

"Remember," Spoke the girl as she fixed up her disguise, "We're just here to get to the bottom of that dolt's scheme. Nothing more, nothing less." Ruby rolled her eyes. _So says the girl who made us all wear stupid disguises._ The young rose smiled at her partner, pushing up her fake glasses in a cliché manner.

"If I didn't know you any better, I'd say you were jealous." She gulped as Weiss gave her a cold glare that could freeze the ocean. "I-it's a good thing I know you better right? Hahaha…" She laughed nervously. The adorable reaper sighed in relief as the white haired girl stopped glaring at her.

Pyrrha looked at her future hus- er, lover- uh bearer of 12 children… her _partner_, as he held onto his vomit bag for dear life. She hoped he was okay… If only she could be closer and help him get over his motion sickness. Maybe lay his head on her lap so she could stroke his no-doubt soft hair and mutter affectionate sayings to him as the two confessed their undying love for each other and moved in for a passionate kis-

"We have now arrived at Vale. All passengers are advised to exit the vehicle through the front exit." Quick as a flash, Jaune bolted out of the airship screaming bloody murder. He moved so fast that Velvet could've sworn he had leapt out the window in his haste. Upon reaching the solid, concrete, _not-flying-dozens-of-feet-in-the-air_ ground the knight laughed triumphantly as he kissed it repeatedly. He had finally conquered his motion sickness somewhat. He only vomited _three_ times, _a new record!_ Ruby giggled as she watched her first friend smooch the ground.

"I think we found Jaune's date." She commented with a childish grin. All of the girls present laughed bar Pyrrha and Weiss who were too busy looking for Jaune's actual girl. Unsurprisingly enough each student had different thoughts as they gazed around.

A dozen minutes later found the blond at a café a few blocks away enjoying what appeared to be a cup of his favourite beverage. Yang watched the boy intently as he appeared to be enjoying his cup, what was it about that drink that caused the knight and her partner to continuously order it whenever possible? Velvet smiled happily as she watched the boy sip his warm drink contently, maybe she should introduce him to her team? Coco could make really good cups of coffee and hot chocolate. Though she wasn't sure if her leader was experienced with white chocolate, but it couldn't be that different… Right?

"What is he doing?" Wondered Amethyst aloud as the girls all hid behind one newspaper several booths away from their target. The librarian frowned, maybe she was wrong about her gue- All of the girls gasped simultaneously as a beautiful girl approached Jaune. She had long black hair, sharp amber eyes and her outfit was eerily similar to-

"BLAKE?" Cried Ruby in surprise. All five of the girls next to her covered her mouth with one hand each and gestured for her to be quite with the other. They sighed in relief as the girl slowly nodded. After the six girls got over their initial surprise they watched the two interact.  
"Do you have any idea what they're saying?" Asked Yang to the group. She facepalmed upon receiving five negatives from them. _Now what?_

Jaune smiled at Blake as she arrived, feeling slightly overdressed as she was just in her fighting clothes. "Sorry, did I keep you waiting?" She asked as she sat down. The writer shook his head,

"No, I just arrived myself." He lied smoothly. The bookworm gave him a sceptic look.

"You _just _arrived and already have had five cups of White Hot Chocolate?" She asked in mock surprise as she gestured towards the empty cups on the table. The blond boy just grinned from his seat.

"You know it." The two shared a short laugh. "So, do you want something to eat or drink, or do you just want to head to the bookstore now?" The introvert contemplated her choices for a moment before deciding that heading to the books would be the smarter move. The novel might sell out soon after all. Voicing her thoughts to the relaxing blond, she was pleased to see that he had similar ones. "Well then, let's be on our way!" He cheered. Paying for his drinks the knight and ninja walked side-by-side towards a preferred bookshop.

On the trip there neither of the two were the conversation initiator type as Jaune was socially awkward and Blake just preferred not to interact with society full stop. Despite this though, the silence wasn't unpleasant and actually comfortable. Besides, in the few times Jaune would finally gain the courage to try and start a conversation the bookworm would just leave closed replies that left no room for further speech. "So, uh, do you like playing games?" He asked awkwardly as they walked down the paved road, past the oddly small trees that looked like they could've been made of cardboard.

Blake just kept staring forwards, keen to get her hands on a new book. "I haven't played many."

Jaune blinked. _Was that a yes or a no?_ "Uh, when did you start reading the Jane Caur novels?" The boy didn't care that he technically already knew the answer, he wasn't going to let the conversation die!

"I started a long time before Yang." Jaune groaned mentally, it wasn't that he disliked the silence. He just wanted to make another friend in Blake. As far as he knew, she appeared to only think of him as an acquaintance whom she can talk books with. Even then, she still had Yang and Amethyst to talk to.

The knight sighed, he skipped out on a date with his Snow Angel for this so it'd better be worth it. As the two continued on in silence they both grinned upon reading the sign at the front of the store. 'Tukson's Book Trade – Home to every book under the sun'. Blake's eyes widened, she didn't know that Jaune went here. This was one of her favourite bookshops as she frequently visited it. Upon entering the owner, a large man by the Tukson, grinned at the two. "Well if it isn't Jan-aune Arc. Jaune Arc!" He remedied mid-sentence as the writer quickly motioned stop behind the black haired girl. "And Blake too, I didn't know you knew each other." The bookworm smiled at the man in a friendly manner,

"I could say the same thing about you two." Tukson shrugged,

"Well Jaune here is a regular." He explained, "He drops by at least once every month and has become a rather valuable customer of mine. So what are you two up to? Don't tell me this goofball here has worked his way into your heart." The two students blushed heavily.

"I-It's not like that. I'm just accompanying Blake here so she can get the latest Jane Caur novel." Tukson blinked… then laughed… and laughed some more. _Jaune's gotten himself into an interesting situation._

"If that's what you're looking for then you've come to the right place. I just recently got a new shipment of the book." The shop owner grinned once more, subtly winking at Jaune, "And since you two are regulars I'm willing to part with them for half price." Blake mentally gasped, _half price?_ She never got that deal before, did he and Jaune know each other that well? The confused introvert moved to grab her wallet when Jaune gave a large amount of lien from his.

The boy smirked at the owner as he grabbed a couple of comics from the front, "This should be enough to cover for both of ours along with the latest twelve issues of the X-Ray and Vav comics. I heard Mogar's going to be in it!" Blake gaped, just how expensive were those comics to warrant that much money? Tukson chuckled as he accepted the money,

"I just can't make you pay anything under full price can I?" The introvert turned to the knight perplexed, why did he pay in full when Tukson was willing to sell it for half price? _Actually, where did Jaune get that money? The amount of lien he pulled out was around a weeks worth of work for someone of our age…_

Little did she know, Jaune actually received quite a large amount of income from all of the books he sells.

As the two students said their farewells to the bookstore owner Jaune blinked. _Why are there six trees on concrete?_ He wondered curiously. Activating his semblance he stumbled slightly upon examining them. Hiding behind cardboard cut-outs of trees were Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Amethyst, Pyrrha and… Velvet? He sighed to himself as the two walked out the door. The knight understood Yang and Amethyst, they seemed to be the type to do this as Blake was her partner and he may have accidentally tipped Amethyst off, but Ruby, Pyrrha and Velvet? Dust, even Weiss was there. "Blake-" The girl stopped him before he could start,

"I know." She stated simply, bow twitching slightly.

Jaune chuckled, "What do you want to do?"

"Run?" Suggested the bookworm.

"Lets." Without further ado, the two book lovers ran off, much to the surprise of the hiding females.

"They know!" Cried Weiss as they ran off. "After them!" The group of students nodded to each other and ran after the two.

* * *

Jaune groaned, not even a minute after they began running it started to rain heavily. He shivered as the two came a stop under a large building that had a small canopy by the entrance. "Where did that rain come from?" He cried as he wrung his soaked clothes. Using his semblance he noticed the increase in humidity earlier but he just chalked it up to being near the ocean.

The knight sighed, the small roof above them hardly provided enough shelter to keep the rain off the two. Nodding to each other, the Hunters-in-training decided to enter the building in hopes that the owner would be lenient… and have a shower. Jaune frowned, _Why does this situation seem incredibly similar to-_ He gasped, _oh dear dust, please tell me I'm wrong._ Slowly reading the sign above the reception desk with his jaw hanging, he blushed a shade of red similar to his partner's hair, _well this is cliché._ Beside him Blake was confused by his red face, had the boy caught a cold in the rain? She curiously followed his line of sight and froze, a deep red blush adorning her rain soaked face.

The two had just entered a genuine, 'real life', not in anime love hotel. _Since when did Vale have LOVE HOTELS?_ Exclaimed the knight mentally. "Why did I have to be right…" He groaned.

* * *

**So, the blond knight has attracted some unwanted misunderstandings from his female friends and has ended up in a rather cliché situation with the black haired ninja. Will he manage to find a way out of this predicament, or will he just go with the flow? This all to come next chapter as the writer has a little run-in with suspicious friends, and meets a certain fashionista with a passion for coffee.**

**I hope you enjoyed and please leave a Favourite, Follow and a Review.****  
**

**Anyone who can guess a specific reference gets to decide a final name for Nora's ever-changing sloth and pancake establishment.**


	11. Chapter 11- A harmless trip to Vale Pt2

**Hello my awesome readers! I'm back with another chapter.  
Just like to say that I'm sorry that this took so long to come out, especially so since several of you expressed how you wanted a fast update, but life got in the way and I got into a new game. Either way it's here now, so please read and tell me what you all think. Hopefully it makes up for my absence.**

**Though I'm actually surprised how many people focussed on a scene that hardly took up much of the chapter, but it** _**was**_** a rather blatant reference so I don't blame you.**

**In case you haven't noticed, I will be adding little comments in the first paragraph of the post-story A/N about the chapter that also leave a little tease for the next one. Just trying out something new to find a style of writing I like, tell me what you all think.**

**Review response time!**

**The10thDoctor1964:** Thank you for those kind words of praise, but I am hardly that good of a writer. Especially compared to the higher-up fanfics such as The Games We Play or Auburn. Also, magic may or may not come into play in the near future.

**Jadenman:** Thank you, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it too. Yes I have watched the new episode.

**garoorar: **It wasn't really _that_ much SAO Abridged, hardly one eighth of the chapter, but it was similar as I based the scene off of it. You have to admit though, it was funny… Right?

**InsertNameHere (Guest): **Thank you!

**Guest (Guest):** Is that a good thing?

**lukefang:** Have to admit, this is probably one of my favourite reviews I've received for this chapter.

**dracohalo117:** In fiction, love hotels can only mean one thing hehehe…

**yellowfellow81:** Thank you for the praise!

**Cloy552:** It's not a good chapter if I haven't trolled someone somehow, even if it's a long con. Tukson may or may not die, you'll see later. Also I really doubt Cinder will be dealt with that easily… Especially since I have to wait until Volume 3 to actually see where her character is going so I don't have any inconsistencies with upcoming Canon.

**jjshawn: **I love that series too, and it wasn't ripped off. It was just an _incredibly blatant_ reference.

**Werewolf2300:** Masochist because he enjoys researching even if it will inflict bodily harm? Yeah I guess. I figured I might as well jump on the 'good guy Cardin' bandwagon, especially since I got some good ideas for later on.

**NinjaFang1331:** Thank you.

**Thebluebuffalo:** Thanks! I really enjoyed the SAO Abridged episodes SWE have released.

**code R.R: ** *Insert evil laughter here*

**Raven kight:** Yes. Yes I did.

**ZeroHuman:** I wouldn't say everything, it's still missing magic. But that will be resolved soon…

**FallingInStereo (Guest):** Yes it was, it just really fit in with the whole 'Sap-Jaune' idea I had.

**roxasduelwielder:** Thank you.

**Mahilder:** Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy it.

**theycallmebeanz:** Good to know that my story makes people happy. Jaune may or may not escape without any embarrassing occurrences, you'll have to see.

**DarkElucidator:** Haha, yes it did. That is a fair point, the ever-changing name/theme is what makes it Nora's.

**Paladin 73 (Guest): **Thank you, sorry I couldn't update sooner though.

**RyoTheSaiyan: **I wouldn't call getting into these situations luck, hehehe…  
Though that wasn't the reference, I do get some inspiration for Nora's shenanigans from Nora's Arc.

**workeranomalie:** Well had to include a cliché eventually.  
And don't worry, as long as you can tell me you enjoy reading my fanfic and liked the chapter then you aren't a bad reviewer. A bad reviewer is a reader who goes on about how bad the story is without saying what exactly makes it bad.  
I'd like to express _my_ gratitude that you aren't that type of reviewer.

**Benthino:** Thank you, but I wouldn't exactly call it a cliffhanger… I can do much worse *Insert evil laughter here*.

**daniel8472:** Thank you, hopefully this chapter meets your expectations.

**Toaneo07 Ver2.0:** …Alright. Good to know I made you laugh.

**duskrider:** Syrup-Jaune does what Syrup-Jaune wants.

**KingcrabLobster95:** I won't stop until it's done.

**Kuro kaze no aka kira:** Thank you!

**Guest (Guest):** I will.

**Gimme Gimme (Guest):** Well since you said please…

**Whew, that was a lot of reviews to go through. I can't express in words just how awesome you all are for reading my story, and I'm glad you all enjoy it. Thanks to you wonderful readers we've reached 300 Favourites! So this chapter's to you!**

**Disclaimer: RWBY and any mentioned or referenced franchises all belong to their respective owners, I do not own anything no matter how much I'd want to.**

* * *

Chapter 11- A harmless trip to Vale Pt. 2

"A-are you sure?" Mumbled Jaune, stopping his rubbing motions. _Is it really ready?_ He questioned himself mentally.

Blake nodded, "Yes, now come on. Put it in." The rain-soaked knight shook his head, shuddering,

"Dust it's wet." The girl glared at him accusingly with a joking smirk,

"And whose fault is that?" Jaune poked his tongue out at the bookworm. The black haired student sneezed in response. Ignoring the fact that it was probably the most adorable sneeze he had ever heard, the blond writer gazed at his reader worriedly.

"Are you okay? After this you can have the shower first." He offered in concern for the possibly sick girl.

Blake rolled her eyes at him, "Sure." Might as well humour his white knight attempt. She frowned as she watched him move, "Though I have to say, you're surprisingly experienced at this." She commented between motions. Jaune chuckled,

"Well when you grow up with seven sisters you learn quickly." The introvert nodded slowly,

She shrugged, "I wouldn't really know much about familial matters- Hey! Not so rough! It's delicate!" She growled as his motions suddenly became harsher.

The knight rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry." He had gotten a bit ahead of himself when she mentioned not having much experience with family. Jaune blinked. "Uh… Blake?" He started nervously.

Blake gave him a look. "What now?"

"I think I broke it." The girl swore.

"Dust Jaune really? I told you to be careful. I thought you said it would be fine, we'll have to get a replacement now." She scolded.

The blond shook his head negative, "No it's fine I'm nearly finished."

"Hold on, I'm coming." Shouted the girl from across the room.

Jaune groaned, "I can't believe the books got _this_ soaked. Where did that rain even come from?" He slowly dried the book by dabbing it with tissue paper and a tiny towel. The writer cursed under his breath as he ran his finger over a large tear he made on the tenth from last page due to rubbing too hard. He was so close to making it through the whole 146 pages again without ruining it. "You can have the one I managed to do without messing up, but are you sure it's completely dry? I don't want to put it in the plastic bag wet." Blake just rolled her eyes, watching him fix the book with his strangely small tools.

"It's fine, we were just lucky you had a book reparation kit on hand." The writer nodded affirmatively, though it was a shame that it didn't work on comic books because of the different material. He'd have to go back to buy another copy.

He laughed, "Yeah, who knows what might've happened to them if I didn't. Either way, you should get out of those clothes and into the shower or you might catch a cold, I'll finish up fixing this book."

The introvert smirked at him, "You're not going to take no for an answer are you?" Jaune grinned as he took a page from his first friend's book.

"Nope!" He exclaimed teasingly. Blake adopted a thoughtful expression as she entered the bathroom, why did that remind her of her leader?

Jaune sighed tiredly to himself as he heard the noise of water hitting the shower floor. What part of him thought that it was a good idea to rent a room at a love hotel? With Blake of all people! The knight had seen this coming somewhat, but how did something so cliché happen outside of books?

He silently groaned at the thought, _is this going to be a recurring thing?_ He wondered silently. The blond writer's annoyed expression quickly converted into a triumphant smirk as he finished repairing the rain-soaked book. It almost looked brand new if you ignored the tear. Then again, he did only just buy the book an hour ago. Jaune laughed mentally, is it weird paying in full for a book that you made? "It's rather ironic when you really think about it." He chuckled to himself.

Finished with his internal musing the boy frowned, what were they going to do now? The two were stuck in the room wearing only towels until their clothes dried. The room, conveniently enough, came with a clothes drier along with a washing machine but it would still take a while. Then they would have to explain the situation to their teams… The writer shivered unconsciously at the thought.

Jaune stiffened slightly when he heard melodic laughter from behind him, she finished rather quickly. Then again she did appear to dislike water if her fervent running was any clue. "You should probably have your shower now if you're shivering that much." Stated Blake, clear amusement resounding from her voice. It was nice. "Pass me your clothes, I'll put them in the drier for you." Jaune smiled, maybe he had made yet another friend in the form of Blake. The boy laughed and turned to the girl to speak his thanks when something caught his eye. Blood rose up into his cheeks as he froze mid-turn.

"Gah!" He cried as he averted his eyes, the girl was clad in naught but a towel and her bow. It wasn't like he was expecting her to be wearing more, but it came as a shock nonetheless. Jaune could practically _hear_ his semblance's whines about wanting to observe the beautiful flower before him. He could feel its thirst, its burning _desire_ to record every miniscule move she made during breaths, every single droplet of water as it painstakingly slowly rolled down her flawless pale skin. But he had to fight it, quell the urge to analyse and throw away his need for research. No longer was he going to observe his friends for his novels without their prior permission unless necessary. Though before he got their permission he'd have to explain that he was actually the prodigy writer Jane Caur, and that would not end well. The writer laughed nervously, still actively avoiding looking at the confused bookworm. Dust did she look cute when she was perplexed. He shook his head, "Ah, uh, yeah, you go… Do that. I-I'll be here… Having a shower." With his piece said, and his thanks conveyed the knight dashed into the bathroom with a speed that would leave even Ruby in the dust. _Smooth_, he thought sarcastically as he fell onto his backside.

* * *

Blake stared at her new book, analysing every page for the tiniest of discrepancies. If she saw even one error she would be buying a new one. As she scanned the book she couldn't help but admire Jaune's work, he had done an impressive job of drying it. Where in Remnant he had gotten a tiny iron to flatten the wrinkled pages she'd never know, but the book lover was glad nonetheless. Carefully placing the novel down on the mahogany coffee table the girl flattened herself into the bed as she began to recount recent events.

_So first Jaune and I arrived separately at the café we had decided on previously. He then said he only just entered despite the several empty cups sitting before him._ Although strange, the girl just chalked it up to the boy being polite._ Following that we headed to Tukson's and had a short conversation._ The raven haired girl still couldn't believe that Jaune was a regular, she was one herself and had never seen neither hide nor hair of the blond boy. Then again, she never paid too much attention to anything except the books, Tukson and the front door. _Upon exiting the building we noticed that people were tailing us. As we ran away it began to rain soaking both the books and us. After a short chase scene we arrived at the Vale love hotel of all places and booked a room to dry off in… I never realised just how much money Jaune had._ The thought floated around her head, questioning the knight. How did he have so much money? Where did he get it? Does he have a job? How much does he have?

Blake shook her head, she and Jaune weren't exactly much more than close acquaintances or maybe borderline friendship, so she had no right to question things about him. Though she was curious… The bookworm turned her troubled gaze to the clothes Jaune had put into the basket for her to dry. It wouldn't hurt to quickly rummage around his belongings… right? '_No Blake!'_ She heard a voice chastise her, '_you have no right snooping around his things just because you're cautious. You've left that life behind you!'_

Blake squirmed, _But… it's really strange, where would he receive all that money from?  
'He might have a job'_ Pointed out the voice.  
_But in the time we've known him he hasn't mentioned having a job._ She countered.  
The voice laughed, _'You're only close acquaintances or maybe borderline friends… remember? He has no reason to tell you.'_ Blake flinched, her common sense was harsh.  
_... You're right about that. It's just-  
'Or did you actually think you were friends with the awkward, clumsy boy, and now you're annoyed that he hasn't told you something about himself?'_ Teased the voice smugly. Blake fell silent at the comment. _'Hit the nail on the head didn't I?'  
__Of course you did! You're me!_ Remarked the black haired girl sarcastically.  
_'That's beside the point. Either way, you're a hypocrite for wanting him unveil a secret. After all, you have one of your own…_'

Before she could reply to her annoyingly smarter subconscious that reminded her of a more clever Yang, Jaune spoke out from behind her. "Blake…" He started, "Why are you staring at my clothes?" Deadpanned the boy freshly out of the shower. The introvert slowly turned around, she had been caught red handed. Halfway through her heel turn she stopped abruptly. The blond knight was only wearing a white towel that was wrapped around his waist, giving her a rather eye-pleasing view of his upper body.

Blake. exe has crashed, now attempting to restart.

The girl flushed heavily and covered her nose in an attempt to stifle a rapidly approaching nosebleed. "B-Blake? Are you okay?" Questioned Jaune concerned for her. The introvert did not respond as she was trying her damnedest to not have a nosebleed right then and there, this was twice now! Unfortunately for the poor girl, our strangely dense writer walked towards her worriedly. He put a hand on both of their heads, "I think the rain made you sick. Or maybe you caught Weiss' illness." He remarked as he felt her temperature rise. _Why does this situation feel familiar?_ He wondered as he gazed at the 'sick girl'.

Meanwhile, Blake's brain was ceasing to function. Jaune was a bit too close for her liking and was giving her a generous view of his body. Water was still trickling down his messy wet hair as he stared into her eyes, "Blake I think we should head back to Beacon so you can get some proper rest." To his surprise, the girl suddenly flew backwards as her nose began to bleed heavily.

Fatal error occurred. Restart has failed. Please request assistance. "Blake!"

* * *

When the girl awoke she was sat on the bed, her clothes neatly folded beside her. She yawned, _that was a nice nap, now where am I?_ Blake gazed sleepily around the unfamiliar room and analysed her surroundings. She was sitting on a fluffy pink bed. On either sides of the bed were two drawers that contained items she'd rather not describe or name in order to keep this story T-rated. A meter or so past the foot of the bed sat a large TV with the remote laying next to it with the batteries outside and a small indent in the wall behind it. To the right of the bed was a closet with a hanger on it with the words 'Do Not Disturb'.

Blake gasped as memories hit her like a freight train, though she remembered what had occurred but could not recall when she had fallen asleep. Shrugging, the bookworm decided to put on her clothes before Jaune returned. Walking casually to the books she was pleased to see that they were looking good as new save for a tear in one of them. The introvert withheld the urge to hiss as the door opened behind her. "Glad to see you're awake and looking better." Grinned Jaune as he entered the room holding food and six cups of white hot chocolate. "Figured you might've wanted something to eat and drink after your little catnap." Blake expressed her thanks as she accepted the food. The black haired girl gasped as she opened the box, it was a tuna sandwich with a side of potato fries.

"How did you know I liked tuna?" She asked curiously as she took a glorious bite of the meal delivered from heaven. Jaune shrugged,

"Lucky guess?" Apparently his semblance worked even if someone was unconscious. Who knew Blake dreamed of tuna? Seemingly accepting his reasoning, the bookworm happily dug into her food.

"So what happened to the remote?" She remarked casually, staring curiously at the remote on the floor. It wasn't like that when they had arrived. The blond writer laughed nervously, he had made the mistake of watching the TV whilst he waited for Blake to wake back up. Needless to say, his usual cartoons were not what was on considering where they were. He just shrugged. The girl gave him a sceptic look but ultimately decided to let it slide. "How long was I out for?" The knight smiled,

"Not too long, it's only 1 at the moment and the rain let up a while back. We can either spend the rest of the day in Vale or head back to Beacon." Blake shrugged, already finished with her tuna sandwich and now moving onto the fries.

"If it's fine with you, I'll be heading back. I've already gotten my book." Jaune nodded in understanding.

"Fair enough, I have a friend I want to see though so we'll have to part ways." He hadn't seen LittleMissPublisher in a while and he also needed to tell Roman that he succeeded in getting the first hand data.

After a few minutes of small talk the two exited the love hotel, separately of course in order to avoid suspicion. The blond writer grinned goofily as he strolled around Vale, he couldn't wait to surprise Neo and Roman with an unannounced visit. Hopefully they would be there otherwise it would've been a waste, though he did still need to go clothes shopping. As the knight rounded a corner he was surprised to see that a bubbly girl was bounding towards him at a fast pace. "It's Jaune!" Cried Nora happily as she tugged a mountain of supplies behind her. Jaune's eye twitched as he smiled at her,

"Hi Nora." He greeted. Looks like he wouldn't be seeing the ice cream themed lady after all. "What are you doing in Vale?"

The Valkyrie grinned at him, "Ren and I were just getting some more supplies for my 'All You Can Pancake' restaurant." Jaune snickered, if he looked close enough he could see Ren struggling to carry that mountain of ingredients. The poor boy. "Surprisingly enough, we actually ran into everyone else as well!" _Everyone else?_

"There he is!" Cried Yang from atop the mountain as she struck a pose, dramatically pointing at the bewildered writer. Suddenly several heads popped out of the mound gazing at him, upon confirming it was indeed Jaune the females leapt out.

Weiss glared at him as she got closer. "You!" She cried, "What were you doing philandering with our black haired teammate?" Jaune blinked,

"Philandering?"

Weiss growled as her heels tapped the concrete sidewalk impatiently, "Don't act innocent! We caught you in the act, we were in the cafeteria when you two met up!"

"What were you doing stalking me?" He grinned, "If you really wanted to have some white hot chocolate you could've asked." The white haired girl glared at him,

"Don't change the subject, now where's our teammate? She has some answering to do." Jaune just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Dunno, I think she headed back to Beacon." Spoke the boy as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "And I think there's been a misunderstanding Snow Angel." Weiss gave him a disbelieving look.

"…Explain." Demanded the heiress.

Jaune smiled, "Well first of all, it was a huge coincidence that Blake and I saw each other. I was at the café having several glasses of my favourite drink in the world when she walked in. After a few short words I decided to accompany her to get some books." He lied smoothly. "Then after buying our respective books we both saw that it was going to rain so we ran off in hopes of finding a place to stay whilst the rain passes." Amethyst nodded slowly, it made sense. The two's actions were justified. Blake's unavailability was covered by her coming to get the latest Jane Caur book that had released recently. Jaune was smarter than she gave him credit for considering he was able to piece that together.

Jaune continued, "After the rain let up we went our separate ways." Weiss frowned. It was a plausible story…

"But that doesn't explain why you turned down a date with Weiss." Commented Ruby confused. The knight blinked,

"Weiss explicitly stated that it wasn't going to be a date, so I decided that she might as well have gone and spent time with her friends rather than me." Weiss blushed slightly in embarrassment as the females gave her looks.

"W-well then!" She exclaimed suddenly, "We figured out the mystery so… Hooray?" Cheered the heiress nervously. Much to the Huntress-in-training's relief Nora, being usual Nora, decided to change the subject randomly.

"Hey Glorious Leader! Renny and I found this flier and thought it would be a good idea if we could enter! What do you think?" She chirped, skipping innocently past the angered women. Jaune stared blankly at the sheet as he read it's contents.

To Vale's next big writer,  
Do you have what it takes to be as well known as Jane Caur or Utako Kasumi?  
Submit your short story by Friday next week and you could become the next biggest writer!  
Just send us your story, your name and your scroll number to *insert address here* and you too could become a famous author!

Jaune frowned, _what reason would Nora have for wanting to sign up to this?_ As if reading his mind, Ren casually walked out of the mountain of supplies, turned the page over, and dived back inside.

Prizes for the top three stories are as follows:  
-Third prize: A meet and greet with Jane Caur herself and half a year's worth of canned tuna.  
-Second prize: A dinner for three and a year's supply of strawberries and any flavour frozen yoghurt of your choice.  
-First prize: Your short story to be published in a magazine for all of Vale to read and a boatload of pancakes.

Jaune deadpanned at the paper in his hands… _Well that makes sense now, but why is first place a boatload of pancakes? And why does Neo keep signing me up for things without telling me?_

Somewhere within Vale Roman grinned as he read through the list of requests for Jane Caur's appearance. "Let's see... This one falls on when Jaune said he'd be out on a trip with his team, this one is on an important test of his, this one is in the middle of a school day- Ooh! This one falls on all three!" The man rubbed his hands together craftily. _Perfect,_ he thought to himself. The orange haired editor suddenly felt a familiar killing intent from behind him. He swallowed, "N-now Neo I know what this looks like, but I most certainly wasn't trying to set Jaune up so his identity would be revealed. Not at all." The blank stare he received in return showed that she didn't believe him. "You have no proof!" He cried before jumping out the window for the sixth time that month.

Jaune yelped girlishly as he was grabbed from behind. "Ooh I wanna see!" Shouted Ruby childishly. In an impressive show of her speed, the rose ran circles around the blond boy before dashing away with the flier in her hand and a triumphant grin. Seeing as the young reaper was successful in obtaining the paper Weiss, Velvet, Nora and Yang crowded around the sheet. Jaune snickered and took a photo of the girls as they salivated over the prize list.

Ruby and Weiss stared at the year's supply of their favourite treats, Yang grinned at all the tuna she could bribe Blake with and she could meet Jane again as well! Velvet blushed, _a dinner for three?_ She thought to herself. That meant she could take someone out on a date and have Coco accompany her so she wouldn't be too embarrassed! Nora laughed maniacally, with an entire boatload of pancakes soon the sloths she had been training will become a force to be reckoned with!

Pyrrha, not exactly interested in the piece of paper, inconspicuously sidestepped closer to the main object of her attention. "So what are you going to do?" She asked curiously. Her partner appeared to be deep in thought. The champion internally gasped, surely he wasn't thinking of getting that dinner for three and inviting her without a third person? He couldn't be thinking of having dinner with her, alone, just the two of them as they fed each other their year's supply of strawberries? He can't be imagining the two sitting side by side as the sun set, enjoying each other's company, and when the sun was all but a hairs width away from vanishing over the horizon the two would slowly approach, their eyes filled with unrestrained love for the person opposite as they slowly leaned in for a kiss, fireworks exploding in the background? And when the fireworks finally stopped the two wouldn't be able to hold back and-

"Pyrrha?" Asked her lover.

The champion smiled lovingly at him, "Yes Jaune?"

"Are you okay?" The Spartan girl froze. Why must her fantasies tease her so?

The red haired student smiled at him reassuringly, "O-of course Jaune. I'm fine." Pyrrha shook her head vigorously, where had she gotten those thoughts? Why has she been so obsessed over her partner? It isn't how she usually acted so what changed? Before the girl could contemplate on the issue any further the boy before her spoke.

"Well as I was saying, I'm not going to enter." There was no way he could enter. What if they figured out that he was Jane Caur? What if he won third prize? Lily was still unavailable for the next few weeks so there would be no one to pretend to be Jane whilst he had the meet and greet.

While Jaune's negativity went into overdrive Pyrrha was fairly disappointed. He didn't want to enter? That was a shame, she really wanted to have that dinner. "Why not?" She found herself asking before she realised it. The blond writer's expressions dimmed slightly causing the champion to want to take back her question. Was she? Did she really? Has she actually fallen for-

"I just… don't feel like it." Interrupted the knight. "I… I have to go." He hated this. He was lying to her again, even after the bullying thing was resolved. Pyrrha just smiled understandingly and it took all of Jaune's strength not to shy away from her comforting gaze. These past few months his partner had been nothing but kind to him, it felt unfair to do this but he couldn't risk it. What did he do to deserve such a great friend? Expressing his thanks, the blond boy regretfully began to walk away. Unnoticed by either of the two, a blond and a brunette followed him stealthily.

* * *

Jaune aimlessly strolled around the streets of Vale, enjoying the afternoon sun while he still could. _I wonder what type of stories everyone will write_, he mused to himself as he walked. _Maybe they'd let me read and give my opinion. I could always use the fact that I read a lot as my excuse._ The knight's stride briefly faltered as he remembered something important that was completely off subject. "I completely forgot that I needed to go buy more clothes." He sighed to himself, "Might as well go now or Azure might kill me for stalling." For the youngest in the family, the blond girl sure could be scary when it came to fashion and clothes. The young writer froze as he heard a voice from behind.

"Oh, you're going clothes shopping Vomit Boy? Why don't Velvet and I come with you?" He slowly turned around to see Yang looking rather pleased with herself. Jaune shrugged, might as well seeing as the buxom blond more than likely wouldn't take no for an answer. He grinned his trademark Arc grin.

"Why not? The more the merrier." Yang was taken aback but she didn't visibly show it, the girl hadn't expected him to accept so readily. If anything she thought he would ask why she and Velvet followed him. The boxer pouted, and she had wanted to get some teasing in too. _Oh well, I'll have plenty opportunities to do so, we're going clothes shopping after all._

From behind the party girl Velvet smiled shyly, "Um, I have a friend who has a thing for fashion. She told me about a really good store nearby. If you'd like… I could, um, take you there?" Jaune smiled thankfully at the brunette, "I'd really appreciate that, thanks!" The bunny girl flushed slightly at his praise. With that the two blonds followed the girl around the street towards the aforementioned store.

As the three walked Yang gave Jaune a grin and jabbed his shoulder slightly. "We have to keep an eye on you, or you might end up buying something as atrocious as that onesie you wore on day one." The blond writer looked nettled at her comment, how dare she say that!

"What's wrong with my onesie?" He exclaimed offended. Azure had gotten him that as a birthday present before she started avoiding him suddenly. At the time she said it was very fashionable. His fellow blond snickered, obviously not seeing the sentimental value behind it.

She scoffed, "What isn't wrong with it? If you're buying clothes then you have to buy proper ones. Then afterwards you can help us decide on what to get." She added teasingly. The knight blinked,

"Huh?" He queried oh-so-smartly, tilting his head in confusion.

Yang raised a brow, "Did you really think we'd come with you and not buy something for ourselves?" Jaune shrugged, he had hoped that was the case. Unfortunately for him, it was not.

After a couple more minutes of idle chatter the three entered a rather expensive looking clothing store. Jaune whistled appreciatively, it seemed rather high class. "Velvet?" The students turned in surprise to see a young woman wearing sunglasses and the most fabulous beret he had ever seen. The woman smirked as she saw the bunny Faunus' face. "Velvet that _is_ you!" She laughed and turned her gaze to him, "And who's your new friend? He's quite the looker." Jaune flushed slightly as the girl winked at him. Jaune's eyes subtly flashed as he began to analyse the flirtatious girl with his semblance. The knight had a feeling he might have to spar with her at some point considering her attitude is similar to Yang's.

The woman had relatively fair skin with short brown hair that had a wavy lock on one side. Upon closer inspection the lock of hair was dyed a red colour, giving it a gradient effect as it transitioned from brown to red at the tips. The teen's clothes consisted of a long cocoa coloured shirt paired with a dark brown corset and dark brown trousers. The girl also wore a number of accessories such as a bracelet, gloves and black beaded necklaces that reminded him of the one Neo wore. On her shoulder hung a black and gold handbag that appeared to have bullet casings for the strap. All in all, the woman's appearance screamed fashion.

Velvet smiled at the brown themed girl, "Hi Coco!" She waved and gestured to the blonds either side of her, "This is Jaune and that is Yang." The writer smiled and held out his hand. _Coco huh?_ _Given her appearance it's a rather fitting name._

"Hi, I'm Velvet's friend I guess." Coco tilted her sunglasses downwards giving Jaune a view of her alluring brown eyes as she raised her brow.

"And how did you two meet?" She asked, sizing him up as if he was a piece of meat. Jaune gulped,

"Well I kind of helped her a bit." The fashionista smiled kindly at him,

"If that's the case then thank you. The name's Coco Adel, leader of Team CFVY (Coffee). Nice to meet you Jaune." She accepted his outstretched hand. "So what brings you three here?"

Yang grinned, "Jaune here is in need of some new clothes. Velvet and I came to get some as well." Coco turned to the boxer and analysed her closely,

"Jaune, why don't you sit there while I go get your friends some clothes, I think I know what you'd like Yang. Follow me." The blond writer sighed, well looks like his clothes trip was hijacked by Yang and Coco. The boy sat down by the dressing rooms, gazing at the clothing nearby in boredom.

Jaune groaned, what was taking those girls so long? The boy scanned the area for them, _where are they?_ He wondered as he observed his surroundings. The knight shrugged, if they were going to take a while he might as well go look for new clothes.

When the three girls came back they paid no mind to the blond sitting next to four sets of clothing and entered separate dressing rooms. Minutes later the female students exited the established rooms wearing clothes that suited their tastes. Yang winked flirtatiously at Jaune as she posed, emphasising her form. "What do you think Vomit Boy?" She teased. The knight stayed silent as his eyes trailed over each of the Huntresses-in-training. The girl clad in yellow grinned, _he's speechless_, she thought to herself in amusement. However Coco, being experienced in the fashion industry, realised that he was anything but. The leader of Team CFVY had seen that look on many designers and critiques before, the blond wasn't admiring them, he was observing them with a critical eye. After a few moments of silence passed the writer nodded and handed the three clothes that he had personally picked out for them based on what they were wearing currently.

Yang looked sceptically at the set of clothes her fellow blond had handed her. "Try these on." He said simply before sitting back into his seat. The chairs here were surprisingly comfortable, why couldn't they get these at Beacon? The other three gave him a hesitant look briefly before entering the dressing rooms. "Oh and Coco keep your necklace and beret, Velvet there are holes in that hat for you to thread your ears through and Yang wear the white shirt under the top." He didn't receive any replies but he was sure that they heard him.

First to come out of the rooms was Velvet. The girl was wearing a light brown summer dress complete with red lining along the hem, golden stripes along the shoulder area and the sleaves. A light straw hat was sat atop the rabbit Faunus' head and had a single red ribbon wrapped around it, forming a bow with the two ends. The brunette smiled appreciatively at the boy as he had remembered to include holes within the top to allow her ears to poke through comfortably. The colour of the dress accentuated her eyes and was fairly modest whilst still pleasing to look at.

Next out of the rooms was Coco who was wearing a relatively similar attire due to the two's close colour schemes. The young woman came out wearing a white bowed blouse that was tinged with brown above a light cocoa battle skirt. Along with the clothes were calf length mocha boots paired with white socks and her other accessories such as her beret, her necklace and her sunglasses. The fashionista nodded at Jaune, impressed with his choice. "Though why did you let me keep the beret and necklace?" She queried perplexed. From what she could tell he was going for a gradient effect from light to dark, but the two accessories through that out. The blond writer rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, a nervous tick he had picked up during his stay at Beacon.

"Well it's just, those seemed important to you I guess?" He explained… sort of. "When you got changed into the other clothes you didn't take them off despite it not fitting with the style." Coco smirked, _kid's got good eye_. She internally commented.

Last out of her designated room was Yang. Once the blond beauty exited the cubicle the shop went silent, even the pop music stopped as it was coincidentally between switching tracks. The buxom boxer was wearing a two-piece poppy yellow and gold short sleeved dress, with the top and bottom being coloured respectively. The space between the two showed her midriff in a way that was similar to Blake's, except all the way around. The dress top had a V-neck that would've given a generous view of her sizable cleavage if she hadn't been wearing a simple short white tee underneath obscuring the view. The sleeves were, for lack of a better word, puffy and the colours of the dress not only complimented her hair and fair skin, but also gave her the appearance of something valuable. All in all, the clothes gave a 'look but don't touch' vibe to her in a way that emphasised her sexual appeal but didn't capitalise on it to the point of being obvious. Coco had no other way of explaining it other than likening the stunning blond to a priceless golden treasure that no one would dare approach. Despite how Yang was leaving the entire store speechless and breathless, Jaune couldn't help but frown.

Velvet, picking up on this, tilted her head curiously. "What's wrong Jaune?" She asked hesitantly. The knight sighed,

"I was right, the look wouldn't suit her." The shoppers within hearing distance gaped at the boy, "Sorry that I put so much thought into Yang's, but I'm used to getting clothes for blonds because of my sisters." Coco shook her head,

"Never mind that, what did you mean by the look not suiting her? She looks like she could be royalty and has the whole store staring!" She cried incredulously, how did that not look good?

The blond writer shook his head, "I never said that it didn't look good. I said it didn't suit Yang, her personality I mean. From what I've learnt about Yang these past few months, mostly by her beating me into the ground, is that she wouldn't be the elegant princess or the priceless masterpiece. Yang is the more like the dragon keeping the treasure safe. A tough love, rough around the edges, party type girl, not built for formalities." Before the boy could continue his scroll began to beep. His eyes widened considerably, _I completely forgot!_ He cried mentally. Jaune's dash to the exit was halted by Yang grabbing his arm in a vice-like grip.

"How are you so good at this?" She asked in an almost inaudible voice.

Jaune, misinterpreting the question, laughed sheepishly. "Well it's something you learn after living with seven sisters constantly asking for your opinion on clothing. One piece wrong and it's a week of guilt tripping for me. Especially Azure, for the youngest of us she can be pretty scary." The writer felt Yang's grip loosen. He waved at Velvet and her team leader. "I have to go now, but I left enough lien to cover the cost where I was sitting. It was nice meeting you Miss Adel!" He called before exiting the building.

Velvet gasped, the blond boy had left enough money to buy each of the clothes he had picked out for them three times over, and they were pretty expensive at that. The girls stared wordlessly as Jaune exited the store, admiring the clothes they were wearing. Yang blinked as she saw that there was another set of clothes where he had sat. "These clothes are…." She mumbled to herself.

Coco licked her lips and whistled at his retreating figure. "I call first dibs." She remarked casually as she entered the dressing room. _This is going to be interesting_, she smirked amusedly.

* * *

**As the light of the afternoon sun fades away Jaune runs off to a secret appointment. Where is he going? That is a question that will be answered somewhat next chapter as he deals with varying quality short stories and female troubles. Who knew having doting parents and demanding siblings could make him such a ladies man? With that said, see you next chapter.**

**Just saying, I picked what clothes I thought would look good. I don't have a sense of fashion so don't blame me if it would look terrible in real life.**

**Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Please Follow, Favourite and Review if you'd like.**

**Those who can identify a specific reference get a Jaune-approved book reparation kit. **

***Note, I am not entitled to actually give anyone the prizes I mention but hey, it's the thought that counts… right?**


	12. Chapter 12- Present from home

**Hello one and all! Welcome back to another chapter of Jaune's Guilty Pleasure. I'd just like to start off by thanking you all once again for reading my story and I hope you continue to read and enjoy it.**

**It's amazing to think that my first ever fanfic has gotten so popular, you guys and gals are awesome! Sorry it took forever, but I was out on a trip and had no internet for a few weeks. I really can't do anything else to make up for it other than apologise and attempt to update at an earlier date.**

**On another note, onto the reviews!**

**roxasduelwielder:** You're not wrong. Misunderstandings are _always_ funny. Unless it's a misunderstanding that gets the main character beat up, then it's hilarious.

**Cloy552:** It was pretty obvious considering how cliché it is, there is a reason for that and thank you.

**Wolfgang8624:** Sorry but no it isn't. It wasn't even a reference to that, I just did it because I thought it would be funny. It didn't even occur to me that the same thing happened there so good pickup.

**NinjaFang1331:** Thanks!

**Paladin73 (Guest):** Thank you, and wait no further!

**DarkElucidator:** Fair enough, though you could still use it as a paperweight or as something to prop the door open.

**RyoTheSaiyan:** Nice spot, a funny thing is whenever I typed "Blake. exe" without the space between the . and exe it would disappear after I saved on the document editor. I think it's amazing how Jaune is a writer of smut yet never realises anything.

**dracohalo117:** Thank you. I'd draw it, but I don't have anything like adobe illustrator or a scanner if I were to draw it with paper.

**SMxABULM:** Thanks, I was hoping that someone would comment on whether it was a good idea or not.

**Baconator12:** Thank you, I'm well aware that the occasional mistake may happen. I'm trying to continuously edit it to prevent that but sometimes they completely escape me.

**vindictious:** Not the pizza! Thanks for all the positive feedback. It would certainly be interesting to see this animated, and I find it funny that you're 'looking forward to the next _episode_.' Is it really good enough to be mistaken for a show?

**LoveGlutton:** Thanks for your comments. It was funny hearing about the worm costume again because it feels like I wrote about it so long ago. I should bring it back… Yes he was more or less writing White Rose. Neo's trap little brother is cute, what could give you nightmares? Other than the fact that he's a guy who looks like a girl. I think you misunderstood it, _Jaune_ was the one who was quote-unquote 'hitting on Neo'. Roman's just an overprotective father who can see that Neo might fall for Jaune so he's 'trying' to get rid of him as indirectly as possible.

**Demon Lord Cashmere Snow:** Yes, yes I am. I also loved the latest episode, though the Yandere Asuna card came out of nowhere for me.

**daniel8472:** You're welcome, and I'd like to thank _you_ for taking the time to read and enjoy my story!

**HAH (Guest):** Great job! You, sir, _are_ awesome and don't let anyone take that away from you.

**TazalTerminals:** Glad I could be of service.

**Benthino:** Thanks for the praise, I'm glad you liked it.

**ThePhantomScribe:** First off, I think it's awesome that a great fanfiction author like you has reviewed and followed my story. I'm an introvert so it's like the equivalent of a movie star saying that they enjoyed a fan's acting and would like to see more of it. It's even better because you saw the reference I threw in there! Now enough fanboying and onto actually answering. Keep in mind that Amethyst read a book called Knightshade, it's actually relatively important later on. The lack of a tag is to leave people in suspense for who Jaune will end up with eventually, it might be Blake, it might not. Once more; I love your stories, I think The Gamer Girl is great. I still can't get over imagining Jaune asking Blake to 'party' and 'grind' with him. Thank you for reviewing!

**demented potato:** Technically yes, technically no. Jaune will have a large amount of girls vying for his affections, but he will end up with only one of them.

**New Universe Returns:** Adam is kind of a wild card currently along with a few other characters so they may not come into play until Volume 3 ends. Yes, the White Fang do exist. They just don't pop up until The Stray.  
That is a possibility, you'll have to read to find out. Junior and the Malachite twins may not appear for a while. I still need to think up an interesting way to throw them into the mess that is Jaune's life.

**StygianSloth:** Well, since you said please I can't possibly say no!

**Caecus Discord:** Yes there was a SAO Abridged reference at one point.

**Wow, that was a lot of reviews. I can't believe I've hit 182 Reviews, **_**467**_** Follows/Alerts and **_**373**_** Favourites. I'm practically jumping for joy. You are all awesome!**

**Now onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any other franchises mentioned. They all belong to their respective owners. Seriously, I don't own anything.**

* * *

Chapter 12- Present from home.

Cardin stared in confusion as Jaune skipped past him whistling a chirpy tune with a happy expression on his face. The former bully gave him a curious look, "What's up Arc?" He asked gruffly, arms crossed. The knight just grinned at the tank of a man with a twinkle in his eye.

"Nothing much Cardin, something good just happened." The boy's grin widened to dramatic proportions as he thought back to the events the day prior. Aside from the embarrassing experience with Blake after their short store run for the latest book, he had a fairly great day. Roman, his editor, actually praised his work for the first time in five years! Sure Neo always told him that her surrogate father enjoyed his stories, but this was the first time in years he had ever said it face to face. Though he did wonder why the ice cream themed woman had the orange haired man at umbrella point the entire time.

Cardin just waited patiently as his… friend, went through several facial expressions in rapid succession. The large boy learnt over time that this meant Jaune was deep in thought and it was best to leave him alone. The former bully frowned, remembering something important and decided to instead leave the boy before him to his musings, wasn't much point in standing around when he could be wishing his mother happy birthday right?

When the blond writer had finally escaped from his mind he realised that Cardin was no longer with him. "Huh." He commented simply. _And I wanted to talk to him about something too…_ With a short stretch the knight decided to find his team at the cafeteria for breakfast. Deciding to take the scenic route, Jaune smiled happily whilst he strolled carelessly through the outside garden area. He currently had no commitments at the moment other than finishing off the essay with his Snow Angel and a supplementary Dust Alchemy class later. The writer had also recently published a new book as well so there was no rush for research as he already had one in the works. It had been a while since he had experienced a situation such as this and, although it was nice not to have to worry for once, it felt strangely empty. There just wasn't anything for him to do.

The male student rubbed his head and sighed. _Maybe I should enter the writing contest? _He wondered to himself. He could, after all, purposefully enter an average piece. Something that wouldn't catch the judge's attention, but at the same time not ruin his writer's pride. Entertaining the thought in his head for a few moments as he walked to the cafeteria the knight came to the conclusion that he might as well, it couldn't hurt right? He did find it strange that all of the prizes just so happened to correspond with the likes of his friends, but it was probably just a happy coincidence. Jaune frowned thoughtfully as he remembered Neo telling him the name of the person hosting the competition, apparently she and Roman knew each other. What was it again?

Deciding that it wasn't important for now, Jaune took one last deep breath of fresh air and started to briskly walk towards his breakfast, eager to tell his team of his decision. Upon entering the room he flashed a smile at his read haired partner from across the cafeteria, waving as he saw her smile back. Once he reached his team he decided to speak, "So I've been thinking, and I decided that I want to enter the short story competition as well. If only for you guys." Pyrrha smiled at him, hiding her inner ecstatic thoughts with a calm external demeanour.

"Great to see that you want to join in." stated the Spartan girl. "Maybe we could make this a team effort?" She suggested.

Nora cheered as the knight accepted the champion's idea. "Yes! With our Glorious Leader writing, we cannot lose! In order to celebrate your decision, I would like for you to read my short story." The blond leader stared blankly as the Valkyrie thrust a note before him. From the corner of his eye he could've sworn her normally stoic childhood friend flush in both annoyance and embarrassment briefly. The writer shrugged, blissfully unaware of his male friend's desperate attempts to signal not to, what's the worst that could happen? He began to read.

_~Chapter one~_

Jane stared lovingly into Ron's eyes, passion sparking between the two. "I… I want-" Began Jane nervously. She smiled warmly despite getting cut off by Ron's gentle hand caressing her cheek. The blond woman blushed as the black haired male slowly leaned in, a clear smirk on his face.

"I know what you want." He breathed sensuously as his other hand went to grasp his leader's soft ones. Jane's blush deepened at the contact between them, it was just so unlike the normally silent boy.

The young woman flinched backwards embarrassedly as her timid blue eyes come into direct contact with his amused pink ones. The girl clumsily tripped over her own feet in surprise and yelped when Ron grabbed her by the waist, bringing him to the bed with her. The two stared in silence as they took in their position, his knee between her legs as he roughly grasped her shoulders. They had not known each other for long, but it just felt right. Ron couldn't take it anymore. Impatient, he boldly tore-

"GREAT DUST MY EYES!" Cried Jaune as he hastily pushed the paper back into its owner's arms. _Why is that a thing?_ "And why am I a girl!" He shouted. His two other teammates gave him an incredulous look.

"_That's_ what you comment on?" They exclaimed disbelievingly. The blond knight shrugged, it was a surprisingly well-written piece considering it was… well Nora. Though he could've done without the more-or-less slash-fic of her leader and childhood friend.

The experienced writer just stared at the explosions expert as if deep in thought. "It was okay except for a couple of things. First of all, you should give more background instead of heading straight for the- ahem, _interesting parts_. Secondly, if you use characters based off of real people don't show it to those real people. It's just plain awkward. Lastly, why in Remnant am I a girl?" Jaune wasn't necessarily the type to pry, so he wouldn't ask why she had thought it was a good idea to do it of him and Ren. _It's more than likely divine retribution for all the smut I did of random people._ He grimaced internally.

Nora smiled innocently at her leader, "You're a girl because I thought you'd look good in a dress." The hunter in training sighed, accepting the excuse for now. He had, much to his embarrassment, been told that a lot of times. Having seven sisters really strips one of their masculinity. The knight turned to his partner and male friend,

"Please tell me your stories aren't about me or anyone I know." The two nodded, whistling innocently as they threw scrunched up pieces of paper in a conveniently placed bin behind them. Pyrrha mentally cried at having to throw away her masterpiece on a clumsy, blond knight and his renowned, champion best-friend. Ren frowned, he'd have to rethink his idea of a story centred around the adventures of Team RWBY.

Jaune gave the two a scrutinising look. He had no time to act upon his suspicion however as the vibrations of his scroll caught his attention. Taking a brief glance at the machine he spoke, "Right… Well, tell me if or when you want me to read over your short stories too. I'd like to help you all since I'm a pretty avid reader. Oh, and tell Team RWBY and Velvet the same goes for them if you see them. If you need me I'll be at the mail room." With his piece said, the student walked out of the cafeteria, completely forgetting he hadn't had a single thing to eat. Pyrrha tilted her head and scanned the room confusedly,

"Speaking of Team RWBY, what are they doing? I thought they were going to eat with us?"

* * *

"Yang what have you been doing, I thought we were going to eat with Team JNPR?" Frowned Ruby. The blond girl in question was shaken from her thoughts on a certain writer and the possibility of meeting with her once more.

"S-sorry Rubes, I was a bit distracted. What were you saying?" The younger sister rolled her eyes.

"What were you doing?" Yang smiled at the rose sleepily as they walked down the halls of Beacon before their partners.

"At first I was working on a short story for the competition when I got side-tracked into trying to sleuth out who laughed at my pun on day two." The members of Team RWBY sweatdropped at the busty blond. Yang growled, "Hey! I feel like I'm really close to finding the person, I could practically reach out and grab them!" In an attempt to emphasise her point the girl made a grabbing motion as they rounded the corner, but to their shared surprise she managed to grab Jaune's face. Or more specifically, his eyes.

"Gah!" Cried the knight, not expecting to suddenly be assaulted. "Why the eyes!" In an attempt to protect the offended organs the writer moved to grab the arms currently attacking his face, but he was blocked by a soft barrier. "What the-?"

The entirety of Team RWBY blushed, "Where the dust do you think you're grabbing Jaune?" Cried Weiss embarrassedly. How dare he fondle their well-endowed teammate! Not that she herself was flat, no she was of adequate size. _Adequate!_

The possibly now-blind boy winced as the grip on his eyes tightened. "I-I'm sorry, but could you _please_ let go of my eyes? I need them to see." His fellow blond seemed to consider it for a moment before ultimately deciding to let go. Though not without a fist to the stomach for touching her without permission. "Thank you… I think." Groaned out the knight as he doubled over in pain, massaging his eyes as he did so. "What did you grab my face for?" Yang shrugged,

"It wasn't on purpose." She stated simply. How was she supposed to know he would be around the corner?

Jaune sighed irritated by her seemingly uncaring reply, "Well, if you want to suddenly assault my eyeballs again, I'll be at the mailroom. Apparently I have a package from home." Ruby's eyes widened expectantly.

"A package? What could it be?" The boy shrugged, knowing his family it could quite literally be anything. Last time they sent something in the mail to him, it was a shirt that was apparently prone to spontaneously combusting. Where it came from, why they thought it would be a good idea to send it to him, and why it was permitted to be sent in the first place, he had no clue. Needless to say, it never made it to him. Though the packaging office had a field day trying to put out the fire. "Can I come with you?" Asked the reaper, putting on her most adorable face. Jaune laughed, having seven sisters made you immune to the dreaded puppy eyes but at least he would have someone to suffer with him if the package went sour. The young man motioned for her to follow, leaving the rest of Team RWBY to their own devices.

"Oh yeah!" He added before they were completely out of earshot, "If any of you would like, I could read your short stories and give my opinion as a wr-_reader_! as a reader. I-I've read a lot of stories… Hehehe." He scratched his head nervously. _That was close,_ he remarked as the two leaders walked off. Weiss and Yang shared a look while Blake payed him no mind. Sure she was curious why they all kept talking about short stories but she had a book to enjoy.

* * *

Jaune chuckled as he watched Ruby skip happily. "What's gotten you into a good mood?" He asked curiously. The rose just smirked at him,

"It's a lady's secret." She teased, but really all of Jaune's talk of family reminded her of her home. The knight scoffed at the younger girl,

"I don't see a lady nearby." The reaper pouted, "All I see is a cute little girl." He mocked jokingly as he rustled her hair. Ruby, focussing on the wrong part of his statement, blushed. _He thinks I'm cute?_

"So…" Started the smaller of the two, "What do you think is in the package?"

The blond writer raised a brow, "Didn't you already ask that question?" Ruby flinched, _I did too didn't I? Ugh, why do I have to be so socially awkward?_

"Uh, so do you have any siblings?" She asked to rectify her mistake.

Jaune nodded and smiled, "Yeah, I have seven sisters. Four older, one my age and two younger." Ruby nodded. Good, the conversation's started. Now she just needed to keep it goin- wait _seven_ sisters?

The girl fought back the thought of having to deal with six more Yangs. "Wh-what are their names?" She continued as they walked through the halls.

"Well, Lily is the eldest and from there to youngest it's Luna, Violet, Light, Opal, me, Azure and Misty." Ruby nodded slowly, Jaune must've had a lot to deal with as a child. Then again, not all sisters were like Yang…

"What are they like?" She mentally grinned at her fellow leader's warm expression. He really seemed to love talking about his family.

The knight laughed, "Knowing my family, I think you'll experience that for yourself sometime in the future. Let's just say that the strange talents I have come from living around them for my whole life, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world." The two shared a soft smile before suddenly becoming aware of the small space between them. Quickly turning away in embarrassment Jaune laughed nervously, "Why is the mailroom so far away?" He wondered aloud. Ruby nodded along, staring at the ground as she twiddled her fingers embarrassedly.

A few more minutes of awkward silence found the two leaders at the mailroom. As they walked in Jaune took notice of the person in charge of the post. He was a fairly young man, probably Amethyst's age. He wore a light blue cap over his messy jet-black hair and adorned a light blue version of the Beacon uniform. The boy pushed up his black-framed glasses, attracting Jaune's attention to his sharp blue eyes. "Good morning." Greeted the boy formally, "I take it you're here for a package?" The knight nodded at the young man and extended his hand.

"That would be right. The name's Jaune." The writer's eyes glowed for a brief moment as the other boy accepted his hand with a grin.

"I'm Jay. Y'know, like a Blue Jay." _'Nice try kid, but most of us staff are professional hunters.'_ Jaune flinched, _how?_ The mailman had managed to successfully block his attempt at tagging him. Ruby looked at the blond knight in confusion as she saw him shoot the other boy an incredulous look. "I'll go retrieve the parcel." The knight frowned as he watched him enter the storage room via the door behind the counter. This was the first time he'd ever been not only unsuccessful in tagging someone, but outright blocked from that person's mind. All he was able to do was hear that single sentence, just who was this guy?

When the young mail person he came back he brought with him a surprisingly large package. The box was roughly a meter in length and half that in width and height. Jay grinned at the two leaders. "Here you go, addressed to one Jaune Arc of Team JNPR. Scroll please." The writer nodded and handed over his scroll in order to confirm his identity. A quick scan later and the box was on the floor of the mailroom, ready to be opened. Ruby was ecstatic, it looked like it could be a weapon. What would it be? A gunblade? A keysword? A sword that can create other swords out of thin air and aura? _Though he does use a traditional sword and shield so he has no range… Ooh, maybe it's a bow!_

Jaune and Jay watched in amusement as the girl went through several facial expressions before finally settling on a clearly excited one. "C'mon let's open it already!" She cried impatiently. The writer turned to the man in charge of the mailroom and received a nod in return.

"Sure, but if it blows up the mailroom you're paying for it." The young rose cheered and quickly tore open the box to find… cooking utensils? She gave a perplexed look at the recipient of the package but was surprised to see the boy had stars in his eyes.

"What is all this?" Asked Ruby, tilting her head slightly.

"My mum sent me all of the things I need to make my homemade strawberry icing cookies and all of my other cooking supplies!"

"You can cook?" The writer scratched his neck sheepishly in response,

"It's one of the many skills I learnt from having to tend to seven sisters." That and the culinary summer school Roman had made him go to for research once. As she heard this, the knight's previous statement finally clicked in Ruby's head.

"Wait… Did you say strawberry icing cookies?" Before Jaune could fully nod Ruby was already out the door, package in tow. With a smirk the boy moved to leave when Jay called out from behind him.

"Word of advice, use less aura. You practically telegraphed to every decent hunter in a 100m radius that you used your semblance. Do that in combat and someone could effectively cancel it with a fast attack, dodge out of the way or block it with a dense shield of aura." Jaune smiled and thanked the young man for his advice. From what he could tell the mailman didn't know he was going to read his mind and instinctively blocked him with a shield of concentrated aura. If that was true then he would definitely need to work on how much aura he put into activating his semblance. Looks like he still had a long way to go in terms of knowing everything about his semblance, especially if he only just learnt that people can sense if he's using it and can block it with aura.

With the new piece of information in mind, the boy followed his fellow leader back to their dorms.

* * *

Jaune grinned as he and Ruby opened the package. "Would you like to help me cook?" He asked as he placed the tools and ingredients on the kitchen bench. The girl shook her head,

"Nope!" The knight glared softly at the younger leader,

"That can get really annoying sometimes." He deadpanned, earning a pleased smirk from the girl. "Alright, if you're not going to help then you can go wait over there until I'm done." Pouting, but not uttering a word of complaint, the reaper walked over to her bed and climbed up. As the rose burned time in her bed our writer was busy working in the kitchen area Team RWBY had in their dorm. Usually Ren would cook for his team because Jaune knew that if he used any of the stoic boy's carefully sorted utensils he would be in for a bad day. Especially since the boy had control over Nora. As her leader she would normally listen to him, but in matters where the fate of pancakes in their dorm lied in the balance the Valkyrie tended to side with her childhood friend.

The blond grinned as he mixed several more ingredients into the batter, this reminded him of home. _Home huh…_ he hadn't been there for a while. It was hard to believe that he'd been away for so long, Jaune had to admit he really missed the place. Sure Beacon was almost every bit as unpredictable and event filled as his house but he also missed Luna, Opal and all his other sisters. He missed having his hair ruffled by his dad and taking care of the house with his mom. As the boy poured his feelings into the cookie dough Ruby was quite literally salivating in the other room. _Those sure do smell nice…_ She thought to herself as she imagined what the cookies would be like. They had to be pretty good if they smelt like that. Then again, this _was_ Jaune she was talking about. Though how could someone mess up _strawberry_ icing _cookies_?_ But it is Jaune…_ Suddenly the rose became worried. What if they were going to be delicious but her fellow leader left overcooked it? Or accidentally used the wrong ingredient? Ruby gasped, horrified by her next idea. _What if he used healthy food?_

"Cookies are done." Grinned Jaune as he held out a tray of hot cookies before the younger girl. The girl stared at the food from the gods tentatively. Taking a small nibble, it wasn't long before she was devouring more. "That good huh?" He laughed as she finished off the tray, cookie crumbs and icing left on her mouth. The knight chuckled, "Hold still Opal." He smiled softly and wiped the leftovers off her mouth with a cloth, despite the girl's squirms.

"Wait, Opal?" Asked the cookie-loving girl. Did he just call her by his sister's name? The writer froze,

"Uh, sorry." _I guess I missed home a lot more than I initially thought…_ "So what did you think?" He asked, partly because he was curious and partly because he wanted to change the subject quickly. Sure she devoured the entire tray, but Ruby would probably eat almost any cookie.

The adorable reaper stared at him, contemplating her choices before settling on what she thought would be best. "Will you marry me?" Jaune blinked

"I- um… what?" There's no way she actually just said that… right?

The girl frowned, "If you wont marry me then how about Yang? I could make that happen… probably."_ Marry Yang?_ The boy shook the thought out of his head,

"Ruby, what are you talking about?" The girl clicked her tongue, she thought he would've accepted that offer.

"Tell me what you want in exchange for those cookies!" She cried. They were a gift from the gods and there was no way she was going to let Jaune take them away from her. The knight stared at her for a moment before smirking, which then turned into chuckling. Soon the chuckling evolved into full-blown laughter. Ruby pouted, "This is no joke Jaune! It's a matter of cookie and death!" Her fellow leader smiled warmly at her,

"It's fine Ruby." He stated between laughs, "If you ever want me to make you a cookie just ask and I'll be happy to bake some for you." The reaper thought about the deal,

"What do you get out of this?" She asked him sceptically.

"A smile from an adorable gem." He answered truthfully. Ruby's eyes widened, so he was telling her that he'd be willing to supply her with an essentially infinite amount of cookies, and all she had to do was smile?

"I accept!" She exclaimed happily. Before she could ask for cookies in return for a smile the writer gasped,

"Oh dust I'm late! Sorry Ruby, I have to go work on something with Weiss, there are more cookies in the kitchen if you want some. I kinda got carried away and made a bit too much." The younger girl sighed as he ran out of the room in a rush. For now she would have to make do with whatever excess the boy had made. It probably wasn't much, but it would do for now. The girl's jaw dropped as she entered the kitchen, the counter was covered in shining silver trays with cookies piled to the roof on each one. It was as if she had died and gone to cookie heaven. Tears began to roll down her cheek as she thankfully inhaled the sugary goodness before her. Today was a good day to be Ruby.

* * *

Weiss tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for a certain blond. Sure the two apparently made a good team but his lack of punctuality irritated her beyond belief. The heiress' eye twitched and she began to pace. Three minutes, _three minutes_ he's late by. That could've been three minutes of work! Living among Remnant's largest company made her despise any waste of productivity without good reason. The heiress sighed, _deep breaths Weiss,_ _he probably has a good reason for not being present_. Blake sat next to the white haired girl and was rather amused by her impatience. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you had a think for Jaune." She commented as she casually flipped to the next page. Before she could blink Weiss was on her tail and stuttering excuses. Metaphorically speaking of course, Blake didn't have a tail because she wasn't a Faunus… The introvert gave the flustered heiress a pointed look, "I was joking." She smirked as her teammate stiffened. "Though who knew insinuating that she liked the knight would cause the high and mighty princess to fall down." Weiss glared at the bookworm.

"Heiress." She clarified. How Yang managed to convince everyone in calling her princess she would never know. Blake smirked, she didn't deny it.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" Asked Jaune awkwardly from behind the two.

Ignoring the late writer's question, Weiss stormed up to him with an irritated expression. "Where the dust have you been?" The blond knight rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and apologised.

"Would an 'I'm sorry cookie' suffice as an extended apology?" He asked. The white haired girl staggered back slightly and shook her head. _No Weiss, he doesn't look as cute as Ruby when asking for forgiveness. It's a trap, a trick, a ploy, a ruse! I refuse to believe a dunce like those two could be cute!_ Accepting the cookie anyway, the heiress took a small bite. Her eyes widened in surprise, these were actually pretty good.

"Where did you buy these?" She asked curiously. She'd have to see if she could get her father to hire the person as her personal baker.

The boy laughed sheepishly, "Actually I made these with Ruby, that's part of the reason why I'm late." Explained Jaune, rubbing the back of his neck. He really needed to get rid of that tic. From next to the heiress Blake rose a brow, _are those cookies really that good?_ She wondered to herself.

The Schnee rolled her eyes disbelievingly, "Sure." She nodded sarcastically. "Next you'll tell me you can sew, clean, garden and cook." The white haired girl was surprised when she didn't receive an answer back and saw that he was instead fidgeting nervously.

"Hehehe…" He laughed awkwardly, "When you have to take care of seven sisters you kind of learn these things quickly."

Jaune blinked in confusion as the girl suddenly brought out a stack of stapled papers from… somewhere, and held them before him. "Sign here." She commanded authoritatively.

The knight blinked once more, "Um, what's this Snow Angel?" Weiss scoffed, as if he didn't know.

"This is a legally binding, Schnee approved, contract stating that for a weekly pay of this amount that will be disclosed in confidence, you are to serve me as my butler for the rest of your natural life. Tasks include cleaning for me, laundry, gardening when we are at the mansion, cooking and other menial household chores." The introvert gaped at the blond's possible remuneration, taking a sneak peak from behind the heiress. _That is a lot of zeros_, thought Blake mentally.

The professional writer frowned, how was he going to explain why he couldn't take a high-paying job that was perfect for him because he had a secret high-paying job that was perfect for him? "S-sorry Snow Angel, but I can't accept your offer." Weiss just shrugged in response. She had plenty of business experience so she knew when a person was unemployable. Doesn't mean she couldn't pester, er- _persuade_ him for more cookies.

"Your loss." She stated simply. "But you'll have to get me more cookies." Blake's eye twitched. _Did he just turn down a weekly payment of more lien than I'd own in a year? And Weiss didn't so much as bat an eyelid!_ Jaune blinked, she took that well.

Deciding to leave the issue there the duo began to work on their essay, oblivious to the annoyed expression on a certain introvert's face. As Jaune finished off another sentence he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Blake was shooting him glances every now and again. Choosing to ignore the strange looks the blond knight decided a break was in order. Weiss raised a brow at the boy, "What are you doing?" She questioned him as he brought out a favourite yellow treat of his.

"I didn't eat breakfast." He explained casually as he peeled the fruit. The two females shared a glance, blushing slightly when the writer began to devour the banana.

_Did he just…_ Started Blake. _Eat a banana whole, without chewing?_ Finished Weiss silently. "What's up?" Asked the knight curiously, finally noticing the look the two had been giving him.

The bookworm before him tilted her head slightly as the white haired girl stared blankly at the blond, "D-do you normally eat bananas like that?" Jaune nodded slowly, as if asking 'is there another way to eat them?' "W-well it's just…" Mumbled Weiss. "People usually take bites out of it…" Even the normally calm and collected Blake was taken aback by the boy's strange, and slightly provocative, method of eating a banana.

The knight frowned, "Strange, when I was younger I was told this was the proper way to eat them. It makes it more filling." Weiss choked slightly at the double meaning.

"Who told you of such an absurd way of consuming bananas?" She cried, disbelieving of the boy's ignorance.

Jaune shrugged, "I can't remember, it was quite a while back."

From across the library Amethyst was having a field day watching Jaune eat the banana, barely keeping herself from bursting out in laughter. The young man was _way_ too naïve and trusting for his own good. She would give the person responsible for his method of eating bananas props if there wasn't the possible choking hazard.

"L-Let's just move on." Stuttered Weiss embarrassedly. The three just continued in silence, with the heiress contemplating banana-eating methods, the knight innocently writing the rest of the essay, and the ninja reading whilst stealing glances at him every-so-often.

The male student grinned triumphantly as he finished his piece, abruptly standing up as he did so. "Done." He exclaimed proudly, garnering the attentions of the two girls before him. "And just in time too." The writer commented, checking his scroll. Blake cocked her head slightly,

"In time for what exactly?"

It was Jaune's turn to tilt his head in confusion, "Ms Glyn- er, Goodwitch's supplementary Dust Alchemy lesson remember? We get given these supplementary lessons because Beacon has yet to find another teacher that specialises in the field." The bookworm blushed in embarrassment, she had completely forgotten about those classes. Dust, it felt like _months_ since she had last heard the term Dust Alchemy. "Well, I'll be headed to class if you need me. Unless you two would like to accompany me?" Weiss sighed,

"You go on ahead, I still need to proofread your part of the essay to make sure it doesn't clash with mine." Expressing his mock hurt and shock at the heiress' lack of trust in him the boy turned to his black haired friend, a sad expression reminiscent of a dog on his face.

"How about you Blake?" The answer came quickly in the form of a brief flinch followed by a nonchalant shrug.

"Might as well."

The purple haired librarian watched the two exit the library with a thoughtful look. _Jaune and Blake act incredibly similar to Yellow and Bella from that book I got signed a while back…_ "Hmm…" The librarian grinned a Yang-esque mischievous grin. _This is going to be fun_, she thought to herself as she jotted down ideas.

* * *

Jaune yawned sleepily as he stretched next to his lab partner. Not even five minutes in and he'd already lost track of what Goodwitch was saying and had decided to read instead. "Do you have any idea what she's talking about?" Asked Yang from the chair over. The knight shook his head negative.

"Now class, I want you and your partner to test the dust samples for these characteristics." Explained the teacher as she tapped her riding crop on the board, emphasising what was written on it. "And students, please don't mess around. Dust in it's powdered form can be extremely volatile and dangerous." The buxom boxer grinned, now _this_ was more like it. Some hands on action oughta teach her a thing or two.

She turned to the boy next to her, "Alright partner, let's do this!" Now she was pumped up. The young woman frowned upon receiving no response. Turning to see what was wrong the party girl noticed that Jaune was deeply engrossed in his thoughts. "You okay Vomit Boy?" The blond writer jumped slightly, not expecting to be shaken from his thoughts.

"Y-yeah I'm fine." Wh-what were we supposed to be doing again?" He laughed unconvincingly as the girl gave him as stern look, unfortunately not falling for the change in subject.

"Nice try Jaune but you're clearly not fine. Is Cardin giving you a hard time again?" The male student shook his head fervently, he really needed to clear Cardin's name some time soon.

Jaune sighed, "It's nothing much really. It just feels like Blake's been acting as if she suspects me for something." Explained the knight worriedly. _I really hope she hasn't caught on_ _to me_, he thought to himself. The writer knew that the girl was incredibly perceptive and wary, which was dangerous considering he had a secret that could possibly change her outlook on him. "Back in the library she was giving me weird looks whilst I ate my banana." Yang grinned,

"It might not be as bad as you think. Maybe she just found you… ap-peel-ing?" The knight chuckled mildly at her little joke. Maybe he _was_ thinking too much on the subject, it was probably nothing anyway.

He smiled at his fellow blond. "Heh, you're probably right Yang… Yang?" Jaune blinked in confusion as the girl moved a little too close for comfort. "Y-Yang? What are you doing?" He asked, slowly backing into the counter for their dust experiment. The party girl gave him a look as she narrowed her eyes,

"Did you just laugh at one of my puns?" She asked with the amount of seriousness one would find at a business meeting. Jaune nodded slowly, unaware of his impending doom.

"Y-yeah, your jokes after initiation were funny too… Why?" Oblivious to the grave he had just dug himself in, the proud hunter in training yelped girlishly as the bust boxer pounced on him. Yang grinned, she had finally found her prey and was now ready to collect her winnings.

"You're mine Vomit Boy!" She cried as she leapt at him, attracting the attention of the class. However, the clumsy knight was 'saved' by the door opening and collecting the attention of the occupants of the room, including a mid-jump Yang. The brief lack of focus gave the author enough time to move out of the way.

Jaune deadpanned. _This is not going to end well_, he commented as his fellow blond faceplanted onto a metal tray, vaulting its contents behind the huntress in training and onto the student entering the room, tray and all. The class watched as the jars of dust and the tray flew into the air before comically descending on the poor student. The blond boy, along with the occupants of the room, gasped worriedly as they finally saw who had been hit by the airborne dust and tray.

Jaune cried out in concern for the student, "Weiss!"

* * *

**A poor decision on our knight's part has lead to a possible disaster concerning Beacon's resident Dust Meister. Dust, after all, can be very unpredictable, and so as the class looks on in worry at the heiress a dangerous dust reaction occurs. What exactly the end product is, you will have to find out next chapter while Jaune wishes for his Snow Angel back.**

**Once again, I apologise for the extremely late chapter. Don't worry, I won't be this late with another chapter… probably.  
Thank you all for reading, and please Follow, Favourite and Review if you enjoyed. I always appreciate everything you do for this story of mine.**

**I also just want to add, for those who actually read A/N's, I like to think of Dust Alchemy as a subject similar to Chemistry. There will be an entire lab for it along with those bench-counter areas to do practicals on.**

**Those who can identify a specific reference get one of Jaune's homemade strawberry icing cookies.**


	13. Chapter 13- I love my master! Pt 1

**Hello my dear readers! Good news is I'm back with another chapter, bad news is it took me an **_**entire**_** month to do it. So for that I am terribly sorry. Though the chapter mostly took a bit longer to update because I was sick and didn't have the strength to edit.**

**On another note, it's surprising just how many of you guys and gals read this story, mind blowing even. Unfortunately there was a problem with fanfiction where the amount of views weren't recorded for a few days, and one of them was the day that I had last updated the chapter, so I missed out on a few views there. It's a shame too, because now I can't tell how many new people have begun reading and can't properly welcome them.**

**Unimportant rambling aside, welcome!**

**Onto the reviews, and dear God have there been a large amount as of late.**

**garoorar: **Read and find out!

**NinjaFang1331:** Thank you!

**Cloy552:** Don't worry, Ruby drinks milk! Thanks for telling me about the mistake. Yes it was supposed to be 'Ron' not 'Ren', and I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

**JNP (Guest):** Yes those were references to both of those games, good pickup.

**LoveGlutton:** Fair enough. I have an idea for the worm costume, hehehe. I also take inspiration for a few funny scenes from other amazing works, be they from fanfiction or deviant art. Though I'm not entirely sure what scene you're referencing.

**Daedelus' Muse:** Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Yes there was a reference to a work of Exvnir's.

**StygianSloth: **No problem! I'm glad you enjoy reading this.

**TehUnoman:** That is the best idea I've ever heard, but I unfortunately have something else planned. You can have a banana for trying.

**Benthino:** I will try to, thanks for the support!

**shadow gumball of death:** Thanks for the praise.

**KRPrime: **It wasn't exactly a reference, but nice try. I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter.

**RyoTheSaiyan:** Wow… You're good at guessing. The Weiss contract was something I came up with myself, but the other two were references. Your feeling may or may not be correct as well…

**Guest (Guest):** More or less, yeah. Jaune is the best there is.

**poor bastard (Guest):** Jaune is both lucky and unlucky at the same time, and interesting idea, but you'll have to read to find out…

**Sithking Zero:** …You really thought this response through didn't you? It sounds like a great story, you should write it! I'm sure it'll be good.  
You were close with the first two guesses, but at the same time very far. You'll see in this chapter.

**New Universe Returns:** It was briefly explained in earlier chapters that Yang absolutely loves (horrible) puns, and thus wanted to find whoever laughed at them due to everyone else disliking it. When Jaune laughed she realised that he was the person, so in a brief lapse of proper judgement she pounced on him in order to receive her prize for finding the person.

**Jake V. Steele:** Good job catching those references and I'm glad you liked the chapter.

**Ninjagod:** That was the reference I was looking for, yes. Have a cookie!

**gammabeta99:** Yep, and it's just going to keep getting deeper knowing his luck.

**DarkElucidator:** Yes that was the reference I was hoping people would catch, good job. Have a dozen cookies for being with this story for so long!

**daniel8472:** Happy you found it funny, hope you enjoy the shenanigans within this chapter too!

**thehidden6lade:** Thank you for the praise! I'm honoured to be one of the first authors whose story you read on this site, so welcome to Fanfiction!

**dracohalo117:** This is all to be addressed within this chapter, so I hope it meets expectations. Unfortunately the banana joke won't be in this chapter.

**WhyTryHarder56:** Thank you, I try my best.

**SoaringEagle13:** Happy you enjoy, and I will.

**DecadeDOW (Guest):** Woohoo, someone finally got that reference! Nice pickup!

**Anonymous Prick 3:** First of all, nice username. Thank you for the praise, I really try to make this story good for all of the readers. Action isn't exactly the focus of this story as it's mostly Romance and Humour, as pointed out by the genres set, so it won't appear too often unless I feel it's necessary. Especially since I don't believe I'm good enough at writing to do it justice. Also, I made Cardin a redeemed villain -that technically wasn't a villain in the first place- for a reason that you may see in future chapters…

**Amusebeard:** It's unfortunate that you don't like this chapter, but it's a pretty big one in terms of plot and character development. Some of which, Jaune himself hasn't noticed and thus will have to deal with the repercussions and consequences later.  
You also seemed to be confused. While Jaune did ask Pyrrha for help earlier, this was just a one-time request for tips and advice in order to pass the upcoming test he had. He didn't want her to constantly waste her time on training with him so he rejected her request. I probably could have conveyed it a little more smoothly, but I am still a novice writer so you'll have to put up with mistakes here and there.

**Lord Corvo Attano:** Thank you, I hope you continue to find it interesting.

**Whew, that was a lot to get through. Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as you usually do! And please Favourite, Follow and Review if you want!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own RWBY or any referenced material as they all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 13- I love my master! Pt 1.

Jaune gaped as the tray clattered to the floor noisily with Weiss following suit. The class stared worriedly at the heiress before them, but their murmurs of concern fell deaf to his ears. "A-are you okay Snow Angel?" Asked Jaune hesitantly. Goodwitch shot him an incredulous look from behind as if saying: 'She just had several bottles-worth of different types of dust poured onto her head whilst being hit by a metal tray, what do you think?' An unusually descriptive look, but an incredulous look nonetheless. Next to the worried knight a certain buxom blond that was the cause of the situation snored happily, rendered unconscious due to an impact to the head.

The blond boy moved to help the girl when she suddenly stood up, much to the surprise of the occupants of the room. The white haired girl smiled brightly at the worried writer. "Of course I am Master!" She laughed as if nothing happened.

The students within the room directed their gazes at the knight in hopes for answers. Even Goodwitch was baffled by the unusual behaviour coming from the normally cold girl. Jaune sighed in relief, she was okay, "Thank dust you'r- wait what?" Her previous statement finally clicked in the boy's head as the heiress tackled him affectionately. Everyone stared at the two wondering the same thing. What in Remnant just happened?

* * *

Jaune and Weiss sat before Ozpin nervously. Weiss was currently wearing her combat clothes rather than her school uniform due to the uniform being covered in potentially hazardous dust. Jaune had just explained the situation that had transpired a few moments prior when the man moved into a thoughtful position, his hand resting on his mouth in deep contemplation. In reality he was amused by the situation but wanted to remain 'professional' in front of the students. He could laugh over the poor boy's problem with his coffee later. "I see…" Mumbled the illustrious headmaster of Beacon as he casually took a sip from his mug. "Unfortunately we do not have an expert of dust and it's effects on hand, or in Vale due to the inconveniently timed dust convention in Atlas as preparation for the upcoming Vytal tournament." The knight groaned, that took out a fair amount of options. "If you want my honest opinion, I believe that Ms Schnee here might have been the most knowledgeable on dust types, their effects and dust alchemy in this school. Even the majority of our teachers here in Beacon lack as much knowledge as her, with Glynda being at the top." The knight groaned once more, though he couldn't help but feel as if Ozpin was hiding something from him. "However, there are cases of students learning more complex forms of dust manipulation. Perhaps they may be of assistance. In fact, you may know of a few already but I will leave you to see for yourself." Surprisingly enough, Jaune's displeasure of the situation did not lighten at having to find someone other than Weiss who is experienced with dust. However, before he could begin looking for the rest of Team RWBY so that he could leave the strangely acting Dust Meister with them, the Headmaster spoke once more.

"Lastly…" He began as he nonchalantly signed documents, seemingly bored with the conversation, "Because it was you, Mr Arc, who put her in this state, I am leaving you in charge of assisting Ms Schnee in snapping out of her newfound personality and attending to her until that happens."

The heiress smirked coyly and hugged the blond writer, much to his displeasure. "I hope you take good care of me Master!" She cheered happily. Much to the Headmaster's surprise, the boy was not in the least bit happy with his current predicament. _Hmm_, he thought to himself as he watched their interaction from the corner of his eyes whilst he signed a confirmation notice, _I had been led to believe that Mr Arc was infatuated heavily with Ms Schnee. Were my informants wrong?_

Jaune mentally sighed as the unfamiliar white haired student smiled at him, _Oh where did my Snow Angel go?_ Most people would take advantage of the 'predicament' the writer had found himself in, but he knew that if he did take advantage of Weiss' new personality she would kill him the moment she turned back. Then again, she would most likely murder him for causing the accident in the first place.

"If that is all Professor Ozpin, I will take my leave." Stated the blond formally, a defeated tone clear within his voice. The older man couldn't help but pity the boy, maybe it wasn't the right decision to make the knight have full responsibility over the heiress as he was fully aware the entire situation was Ms Xiao Long's fault. The young man just appeared to be the spitting image of someone he once knew long ago. He could only hope he was mistaken or the boy would surely have an… eventful, road ahead of him. Oh well, he just signed the confirmation for the shipping container of coffee so he has that to look forward to in the upcoming weeks… The young man could probably sort out the problem himself.

Jaune sighed as he walked out of Ozpin's office, Weiss skipping uncharacteristically behind him. Then again, she wasn't exactly Weiss at the moment. Perhaps he should think of a new name for her whilst she's in this persona in order to make things easier. Wait 'till the teams hear about this… Though Ozpin's clue of someone he may know being knowledgeable on dust intrigued him.

The blond thought deeply, someone who knew a lot about dust and it's applications, that wasn't Weiss? Unlikely. The knight thought back to all of the people that he had met since arriving at Beacon. Ruby was most definitely out if the explosion on day one was of any indication. Yang caused the problem so she was likely out, therefore that left Blake, his team, Cardin, Velvet, Coco, Amethyst, a few other students he had talked to briefly, the cafeteria lady, that one janitor Nora dropped pancakes on, the strange mailroom guy and the several girls who threw stuff at him when Yang punched him into the girl's bathroom. The boy frowned, that was going to be a lot of people to sift through. Though Ozpin most likely did not know _everyone_ that he had ever met before.

That reasoning narrowed down the possible candidates to the people he had met on multiple occasions. As Jaune pondered this during his stroll through the halls a small white nagging feeling began to poke his side. Ignoring it, a flash of orange gave him an idea. The blond snapped his fingers as he remembered a piece of important information. Once again ignoring the nagging white feeling calling for his attention the writer continued to think. He'd have to ask Roman for help, according to Neo he worked with dust outside of his job as an editor- "Master you dunce!" Cried the neglected white feeling, annoyed by the lack of attention. Jaune sighed in exasperation.

"Could you please stop addressing me by master?" He asked, rubbing his temples as he did so. This new Weiss was getting him looks from the students around them, and attention was the last thing he wanted. Not only would her insistence of calling him 'master' sour his reputation, it isn't very dignified for the heiress to one of the largest businesses in Remnant to address a person of lesser status as 'master'. It would absolutely ruin what people would think of her and he just couldn't do that to his Snow Angel.

The girl tilted her head, "Why would I not call my Master 'master'?" She asked, genuinely confused. The writer's eye twitched,

"Because I'm not your master." He stated simply. Hopefully that would clear up her strange misconception. His interest was peaked slightly when he noticed the heiress flinch.

"H-haha, f-for a second I nearly believed you Master." She stuttered out nervously. The knight shook his head with a look of dead seriousness.

"I'm not joking." The writer smirked inwardly, _that should do it… W-Wait, is she gonna-? _His thoughts were interrupted as the white haired girl began to sniffle adorably.

"A-are you saying I'm not good enough for you master? I-I'm sorry." _How did she come to that conclusion!? Wait, where is she going?_ Before he could say anything more the female student ran off, leaving behind a trail of tears. Jaune mentally groaned as the scene earned him several glares from the students around him. Why did his Snow Angel have to leave him with this over-affectionate clone? The girl acted as if she had nothing to hide, or rather didn't feel the need to be embarrassed.

He now had two options, either go to find Roman or chase after Weiss… The knight looked indecisively between the path to the airship and the hallway Weiss had just ran down. Why was this so difficult?. He sighed, hopefully he wouldn't have to make more decisions like this. His mind set, the writer chased after the weeping heiress.

* * *

When the blond boy finally caught up to the crying girl he found her nose-deep into the shoulder of his fellow bookworm. "And this is _my _problem _how_?" Questioned the black haired girl, apparently after the Schnee gave a heartfelt account of the events prior.

"You're my friend aren't you?" Mumbled the white haired girl. Blake gaped, did Weiss just say that they were friends? Did she really believe that about them? The introvert could almost laugh at the irony. Those bottles of dust must have really made her loopy.

Blake smirked mischievously when she noticed Jaune approach. Smiling comfortingly at Weiss. "Of course." She reassured, "Now, why don't you go sort things out with your master? I'm sure he didn't mean it." The young woman gestured behind the heiress towards the knight. The white haired girl turned around to see that her master was indeed behind her.

"Master?" She questioned slowly, as if unsure to address him by that.

The blond writer rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "H-hey Weiss." He greeted awkwardly. "I, um, I'm sorry." What was he supposed to say, that he didn't mean what he said earlier? "I just… I just thought that if I were your master, it would ruin your reputation. And if that happened you wouldn't like me, and I don't want that!" Explained the writer, albeit worded awkwardly. _That sounded a lot less… desperate, in my head…_ Deadpanned the boy.  
_You see, this is why we always edit our writing several times before we give it to Roman._ Stated a sarcastic, yet regrettably correct, voice in his head.

Blake raised a brow, Jaune really looked uncomfortable. Then again, he probably hadn't ever been in this type of situation. She stifled a chuckle, what circumstances had to have of occurred to turn a normally cold heiress that wouldn't give him the time of day to an obsessed servant that doesn't appear to want to leave his side. _Fate must really hate Jaune… I should probably help him._ Before she could move to assist the boy in not making an embarrassment of himself she noticed the looks of the students around him. _On second thought, he can deal with it on his own. Jaune can be pretty dependable sometimes._

As the introvert let herself out the dense knight began to worry, the girl before him had started to tear up again. "D-did I say something?" He stuttered worriedly. Weiss was going to kill him, she was going to brutally murder him when she goes back to normal.

Jaune blinked as he noticed the looks he was receiving from the students around him. _Well, I guess I'm already dead to the majority of the student populace._ He could see it in the newspaper now, 'Jaune Arc makes the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company cry. Angered father sends out deadly, killer, ninja-assassins as revenge.' An oddly specific and descriptive headline, but an eye-catching one nonetheless. _You have to admit, it sounds like a good premise for a story._ Pointed out the voice in his head.  
Jaune unconsciously nodded in agreement, _A weak farm boy gets framed for a crime concerning a rich, well known princess and must survive and escape the onslaught of enemies and bad luck as he, his childhood friend, a ninja who was sent to kill him and the princess seek to clear his name whilst possibly finding love along the way. Interesting__. I could use this for that writing competition._ He had to thank whoever gave him the idea lat- _Wait, who are you?!_ He shouted mentally. The blond boy repressed a disappointed click of his tongue when he received no response. The writer was shaken out of his thoughts when the white haired girl laughed.

Weiss smiled at the boy, gently brushing her tears away. "Master you dolt." She laughed, "I'm crying with joy."

"…Huh?" He replied oh-so-smartly. That could actually happen?

The young heiress pivoted on one leg, her combat skirt spinning in the air as she smiled at him, pulling off a shaft head tilt. "Now I know you care about me enough to pretend that you weren't my master in order to protect me." The knight stood still, confused by the explanation. "You're always so considerate of others, and that's why I love you Master!" Jaune froze for a fraction of a second, _It doesn't count!_ He denied mentally, _Snow Angel isn't herself right now_.

_Then why are you blushing?_ "Th-thanks… I guess." Stuttered the knight, embarrassed by her display of affection. "Why don't we go find our teams?" He asked her, _and find Blake too, who conveniently, mysteriously disappeared in my time of need._

The heiress nodded, "Of course, anything for you Master!" She chirped happily. As the duo traversed through the surprisingly empty halls of Beacon once more, Jaune couldn't help but notice a change that had overcome Weiss. It wasn't an obvious change, unlike her new personality, but it had been a change nonetheless. He hadn't noticed it before, as he had been too preoccupied with curing Weiss' new personality in order to bring back the usual cold yet caring Snow Angel, but something about the heiress had changed.

"Weiss your shoelace is untied." Commented Jaune offhandedly. The white haired girl's eyes briefly flashed downwards before laughing at the knight.

"Master you dolt, my boots don't have shoelaces." The blond writer adorned a thinking pose,

"I suppose they don't." He mumbled thoughtfully, barely audible over the commotion from the classrooms throughout the halls.

When the two made it to Team RWBY's dorm he knocked slowly. "Who is it?" Asked Blake from behind the door, more than likely reading a book in her bed.

Jaune's eye twitched slightly, "The person who you left for dead half an hour ago." He responded. Listening in he heard several loud noises that he assumed was someone trying, and failing, to open the door. Sentences like, 'Ruby no!', 'He's our friend.' and 'He's going to kill me.' caught his attention. The knight smirked as the door swung open to reveal Ruby and Yang, with Blake nowhere to be seen. Though the window was suspiciously open. "I brought you your teammate. But she's a bit… Different." The reaper tilted her head slightly,

"Different?" She asked curiously, turning to her sister for help. The blond girl shrugged in response, the last time she had seen Weiss was before she got knocked out during the Dust Alchemy class. The young woman couldn't for the life of her remember what knocked her out though. In fact, she could hardly remember what occurred during the class. She frowned in thought, normally it would be a normal occurrence not remembering anything she had learnt but for some reason the party girl felt as if something important happened.

Jaune scratched the back of his head and made a sheepish smile, "Well, you'll see what I mean soon. I'd just appreciate it if you three-" A black bow just barely visible past the bottom of the windowsill twitched at the mention of three, "watched over Weiss until I'm finished with a little errand of mine." The youngest of the five nodded slowly,

"Since when were you responsible for Weiss Jaune?" She asked curiously. Weiss was their fellow member of Team RWBY and _her_ partner, why wouldn't she take care of her regardless?

The writer's eye twitched at the memory, "Since Ozpin put me in charge over her because of a certain someone." Jaune smiled at the three girls and gently pushed Weiss, who had been silent the entire time, into the dorm. "Sorry to put this on all of you suddenly, but this is really important." Waving goodbye, the boy quickly ran off. Blake sighed in relief as she motioned to climb back into the room. "By the way Blake this isn't the ground floor, so how are you doing that?" He commented from the hallway.

The introvert's eyes widened, looking at the non-existent floor beneath her. "Huh, so it isn't." Jaune smirked as he heard a loud impact from outside followed by a female yelp.

* * *

A blond boy smiled as he entered Neo's establishment, taking care not to touch anything. He'd say the place never changed, but that was technically a lie considering the shor- _young looking _woman always changed around her office. The ice-cream themed woman's favourite parasol was tucked carefully in the umbrella vase to the side. He never could figure out why she was so attached to that. "Yo Neo? Roman? I have to ask you something!" He called out as he entered Roman's part of the building, the door furthest down the hall. The editor's eyes widened at the unexpected guest and quickly shoved an object that looked similar to a tied up man into the closet next to him, making sure to close the door behind it.

"Wh-what are you doing back so quickly Yellow?" He asked nervously, shifting his eyes between the closet and the young man. "If memory serves, you were here not too long ago."

The writer chuckled, "I just needed some help." An evil glint appeared in Roman's eyes,

"Oho~ What do you need help with Yellow?" Asked the man as he tapped his cane onto the ground excitedly. If this was something he could use to show that Jaune wasn't as innocent as his daughter believes him to be, then it would be perfect!

The young knight sighed, "Well, Neo told me about how you work with dust outside of your editing career." The orange haired man gulped, _dust Neo, if he realises we're both screwed_. "So, hypothetically speaking, if I somehow managed to change someone's personality during a Dust Alchemy class… Is it possible to change it back? And if it was, are you capable of it?"

Roman raised a brow at the boy. "Well, _hypothetically speaking_," He started mockingly, "It's almost impossible to change someone's personality, _almost_. However, I believe I know what you are talking about Yellow."

"Hypothetically." Added the blond helpfully.

The editor rolled his eyes, "Right. Well, I believe that person came into contact with Verity Dust, a special type of dust whose ingredients are hard to come by and even harder to procure. Upon contact, they will reveal the targets inner thoughts and feelings, and the more things they hide, the stronger the effect." The writer nodded slowly, it would make sense that Weiss would be affected so powerfully considering tsundere's are almost never true to themselves or anyone.

"So, once again purely hypothetically, what is the process of creating this dust?" He asked nervously. He didn't remember seeing dust that valuable in any of the vials they were held in.

Roman brought a hand to his chin in 'thought'. "Well Yellow, you need pure, powdered fire, water, air, ice and lightning dust that is only distributed to schools and laboratories for research and learning purposes." _This occurred in Beacon, so that's ticked off. _"Next you need to launch them in a high numbers at a constant velocity whilst keeping them close together." _They were all sent skywards in their bottles due to Yang so that's another ticked off._ "Lastly, they have to be in contact with small amounts of silicon dioxide, glass will do, as they impact special dust crystals that only the Schnee Dust Company own. Though I heard the heiress has some in her tiara." Jaune felt as if the background behind him shattered, how in Remnant did the situation earlier just so happen to fit that criteria? It was close to impossible coincidences that all linked together to create this incident, did fate like messing with him that much?

"So how would I cure someone of the effects of this dust?"

The orange haired man laughed. "Well Yellow, if this still is purely hypothetical, I would be able to get the needed materials to cure the person by the end of the week."

The writer's eyes widened, "A week?" He squawked incredulously. The blond boy motioned to complain when his scroll began to beep. He sighed in defeat upon gazing at the time. He had to hurry or he'd miss the last airship to Beacon. "Alright Roman. I'll be back in a week with Weiss. Oh, and I don't know if you could tell, but this actually wasn't hypothetical." _Did that brat really think I wouldn't notice?_ Thought Roman to himself.

As the door closed behind the rushing boy the editor couldn't help but laugh. A shiver ran down his spine as he felt a sinister presence behind him. The man slowly turned on his heel to see Neo holding up a piece of paper. "I can't help but notice that you didn't tell him the effect only lasts for a couple of days." He read aloud. Roman froze, the sound of familiar tapping of a parasol reaching his ears. This was going to be painful.

* * *

Jaune groaned dejectedly, he'd have to deal with this new Weiss for a whole week. Don't get him wrong; he enjoyed the attention he was getting from his Snow Angel. He just enjoyed not being horribly mutilated even more. _Wait, what if Weiss doesn't keep her memories of this new personality?_ The knight hadn't thought of that before. If that was possible, what would he do? Take advantage? No, that would be wrong. Though he could use his newfound control over the white haired girl to prevent her from getting into a situation that would end in his death once she returned to normal. The blond student nodded, his mind set. The best course of action as of current is the one that garners the least attention. Then again, that would mean having to avoid classes and dust knows he really needs those. That, and Weiss would be absolutely livid if he was responsible for her missing a class.

Jaune groaned once more, this was going to be a tough week.

Upon entering the school grounds after an especially nauseating airship ride he couldn't help but wonder when he was going to do about his situation. His thoughts were interrupted though as he received a message on his scroll. _Pyrrha? What could she want?_

Where are you?  
There was a short assembly where Professor Goodwitch announced that we would not have classes for the next few weeks due to the arrival of foreign students participating in the Vytal Festival.

Jaune stared blankly at the message. Could it be? Were the Divine Beings that normally got a kick out of messing with him actually showing him a shred of mercy for once? Even though this was too good to be true, he really had no choice but to accept it. He had to make the most of it whilst he still could. Deciding to explain the situation to his team, the boy set out to find Weiss. They probably wouldn't believed him otherwise.

With his new plan of action set and a skip to his step, the blond writer walked through the empty halls of Beacon. It was close to 9pm already so he couldn't blame anyone for not wanting to get into trouble for being out past curfew. They were free to roam around for the entire night if they wished on Friday and Saturday, but on the other days they had to be in their dorms before 9 in order to not disturb the students with early classes the next day.

The young man stopped before the door to Team RWBY and took a deep breath, ready for anything that might come crawling out of their room. If he had learnt anything from his time spent with them, it's that important events seem to gravitate towards them as misfortune does him. Unfortunately no amount of self-preparation could have gotten him ready for the sight before him.

Weiss was bound to a chair with chains and gagged with what appeared to be Yang's brassiere if the size was any clue. The girl seemed to be out cold and covered in mayonnaise and tuna. Surrounding the unconscious girl were several items tossed around haphazardly, ranging from a half-peeled banana to a golf club to an oversized tennis ball that could easily constitute for a bowling ball. The confused knight grimaced as he noticed one of the beds he and Ren had carefully crafted for their friends had been cleanly broken in half and was laying on an angle, carrying a single unconscious occupant. He walked up to the knocked out reaper and clicked his fingers before her face several times but was unable to elicit a response.

Continuing his scan across the room the writer realised there was a sizeable hole in the ceiling that was suspiciously Yang-shaped. Though why there was a lamp-shaped hole where the head was supposed to be Jaune didn't know or care so long as he wasn't blamed for that hole too.

His interest was peaked when he heard a splash echo from the bathroom. Dare he enter? The blond boy was concerned for the team. After all, it appeared as if a tornado had come through the room, followed by a tsunami, an earthquake, a hurricane, a typhoon and a drought for the laughs. Deciding to investigate in case Team RWBY's final member, Blake, was drowning in the bathtub he cautiously opened the bathroom door to find-  
He closed the door quickly. Thankfully she had been unaware of his presence. The writer turned back to the object within the white haired girl's mouth. Jaune blinked as he analysed the size of the clothing and made a gesture that appeared to replicate a woman's 'front bumpers' so to speak. He compared the two sized and gaped, somehow having managed to keep a straight face up until that point. "Dear dust, how in Remnant did she hide those?" He muttered. The young knight had seen her in nought but a towel, how did he miss them?

He shook his head, those were probably thoughts for a later date. Scratch that, he'd prefer not to think about them- er,_ it_, again. The young man stared at the bound girl before him and decided to release her from her chains. Wading through the assortment of objects scattered around the room the knight found the key hiding under a light blue book. Unlocking the restraints that bound the heiress Jaune was surprised when three young Huntresses in training suddenly tackled him. "Noooo!" They cried in unison.

"We only just managed to get her down with the shuffleboard!" The young knight blinked, _did Ruby just say shuffleboard? And why is Yang in a plumbers outfit?_

Blake growled at him, "It took an hour to track her down in the Emerald forest. Then we had to deal with the giant sloth she had managed to get captured by!" _Wait, what was Weiss doing in the Emerald Forest? And where did the giant sloth come from?_

Yang groaned to herself, "Why was there a talking mushroom anyway? 'Your heiress is in another castle' my behind." She grumbled. _Um… what?_ "It took forever to get Nora to stop the giant sloth too. We had to brave a stupid six flowered plant monster to get the sap she wanted!" Jaune blinked as he had just realised that Blake was wearing a cat-girl outfit. _When did she get changed?_

"Don't even get me started on actually getting her bound to that chair!" The boy sweatdropped. At this point they weren't even complaining or trying to reason with him, more so just retelling events.

"I am never babysitting Weiss ever again. She's you're problem until she goes back to normal." Cried Yang as she threw the still unconscious and gagged heiress at the confused knight and shoved the two out of the room.

Jaune blinked, "What in Remnant just happened?" He wondered aloud as he stared confusedly at the girl in his arms. _Agh, I got mayonnaise and tuna on me_. Before the writer could do anything about his situation the door to his team's dorm swung open, revealing his male teammate.

"There you are." He spoke slowly, relief in his voice. "Pyrrha, Nora and I were worrie-" The stoic boy stared at the mayonnaise covered girl in the hands of his distinguished leader, his eyes stopping briefly at the undergarment in her mouth. The young man smiled at his leader and closed the door. Jaune's jaw dropped as he heard a distinct locking sound. _Did Ren actually just _lock_ the door?_

On the other side of the locked door Pyrrha tilted her head in confusion at the green-clad student. "Why did you lock the door?" Ren smiled,

"There was a cookie scout who was adamant on selling cookies." He explained simply. Jaune definitely wasn't outside holding an unconscious, mayonnaise and tuna-covered Weiss, who was also gagged by a brassiere that appeared to belong to Yang. Nope, not at all. After all, he had a good leader and male friend who wouldn't resort to that…

* * *

Jaune sneezed as he entered the library. Hopefully Amethyst would understand his situation, and have a shower if possible. The knight walked up to the front desk and was surprised when he found the purple librarian missing. _Strange,_ he thought, _she's normally here until late_. Quickly rapping on the counter his blue eyes floated towards a bell. _Since when did they install a bell?_ He wondered as he rang it.

The blond writer winced slightly, not ready for the surprisingly loud noise that resonated from the palm-sized bell. "Who is it?" Called out Amethyst from the back of the library. Jaune sighed in relief,

"It's me, Jaune!" He shouted back in response. "I have a request for you…"

Several hours later found the two lazing about on a couch in Amethyst's room whilst Weiss slept on the bed, freshly showered and into some of the librarian's spare clothes. "This is a pretty nice room, who knew it existed behind the dusty front desk in the library." Commented the young man as he gazed around.

The purple haired woman smiled, "Thank you, I try my best to keep it clean. Though the front desk isn't _that_ bad." The two shared a short laugh. Amethyst leaned forward expectantly, her expression changing from playful to dead serious. "Now, about the whole Weiss thing. What are you going to do about it?" The young man shrugged,

"I'm not sure about the finer details, but I can restore Snow Angel back to normal in a week." He stated. The woman gave him a curious look.

She tilted her head innocently, "So why exactly do you want Weiss to change back? Don't you enjoy having her fawn around you?" Jaune smiled wistfully and shook his head negative.

"Don't get me wrong I don't hate her new personality, in fact I enjoy the attention. I just… Don't think it's fair to her." Taking note of the librarian's confused look the blond student elaborated. "I told you about how the dust reveals a person's true thoughts right?" Amethyst nodded. "Well, I feel as if Weiss has hidden a lot of things for a reason, and because of this the dust has affected her to the point where her very personality has changed. I just don't think that's right by her." The purple haired woman nodded slowly,

She smirked knowingly, "You've put a surprising amount of thought into this." Jaune smiled, it helps when you have a semblance that can drastically speed up your thought processes.

"N-not really…" He replied unconvincingly. Amethyst smiled back at him,

"Stop being so modest, I know you really care about your friends. You may act oblivious sometimes, but I know you're more perceptive than you reveal." The writer blinked, had she really noticed that? "I also know that you're hiding something from everyone, and it's not just one or two things too." Jaune paled as he gulped audibly. Are all the staff in this school detectives or something? First Ozpin, then that boy in the mailroom, and now Amethyst. It was getting increasingly difficult to keep a secret in this place, he had to change the subject and fast.

"Where am I going to sleep?" He queried awkwardly. It was something he was genuinely curious about so he was sincere in the question, just not the intent.

The librarian smirked, "Isn't it obvious?" She asked suggestively as her eyes tracked to the sleeping heiress. Jaune blushed, was she really implying that- "You'll be sleeping on the floor!" The knight resisted the urge to face-fault, _why you little…_

Rejoicing over having successfully gotten the young woman's mind off of sleuthing out his secrets, the blond boy didn't mind that he had to sleep on the spare mattress. All he needed to do now was figure out what he was going to do with Weiss until Roman could get everything he needed for the cure. Sure Ozpin conveniently postponed classes due to the students from other schools arriving, but she still had to stay at Beacon and judging from the events prior she sure as dust wasn't staying in the RWBY dorm again until she's back to normal.

Though that wasn't all that was occupying his mind. The knight knew that he didn't tell Amethyst of the largest reason as to why he doesn't take advantage of the new Weiss. It was because although she looked and sounded like the Snow Angel he knows, this wasn't Weiss. Weiss wouldn't forget small details like the fact that she didn't have any shoelaces on her boots, and the way Weiss walked was elegant and decisive, as if she knew where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do at all times. The new 'personality' of hers instead moved as if she were ready to change direction at any given moment along with a childish curiosity to her movements. One last clue revealed the truth of the situation. Weiss wasn't tagged anymore.

The heiress must've been hiding a lot because the dust didn't just make a new personality, it made an entirely new person within Weiss' body. If his guess was right, then the dust managed to rework her brain to become someone else entirely. It wasn't a sudden change in personality, it was a change of her whole way of thinking. Though there wasn't much point in dwelling over the theory because soon Weiss would return to normal, which once again lead to his first problem. Where was he going to put Weiss and what was he going to do with her until the week was up?

Amethyst grinned, "Why don't you take her to Vale under the premise of a date?" She suggested. The blond boy jumped, how did she know that he was thinking about that? "Honey, your facial expressions are all I need to read you like a book." Laughed the older woman.

Jaune sighed and slumped his shoulders, "Well, while that's a good idea on paper, Weiss would never agree to that." The librarian's cheeky grin widened to a point where the knight was actually concerned for her health.

"Who ever said it would be Weiss that agreed to go on a date?"

* * *

**And as the clock strikes midnight a plan hatches to keep the changed heiress' reputation intact. Our clumsy writer has somehow managed to end up in a rather rare situation and has lost Weiss to the new person within her body. Will he be able to bring his Snow Angel back, or will Weiss' personality be forever changed? Also, how will a worm costume manage to save the day? Read on to find out as we wait for another month to pass before this stupid author finally manages to update!**

**On a more serious note, I'm incredibly sorry that this wasn't updated as soon as I'd hope. I also cannot promise the next update will be any faster, but who knows, I may be able to pull it off if life decides to stop being an ass.**

**Those who can find a certain reference get a high-five and a bottle of Verity Dust.**

**I'm glad that people tell me about the possible references despite the fact that those who get the specific reference wont **_**actually**_** get the joke 'reward'. At most they will just get a congratulations. I just like to see how perceptive people are, and it is unimaginably enjoyable when someone catches a reference. Seriously I love the feeling.**


	14. Chapter 14- I love my master! Pt 2

**What's up everyone? I'm back with another chapter for you all! I haven't had much time to update recently so I'd like to apologize about the stupidly long wait, hopefully the longer-than-usual chapter makes up for it. In other news, the Yang and Tifa death battle by Screw Attack happened so watch that if you want and RWBY Volume 3 soon! The hype is real!**

**Review time!**

**StygianSloth:** Yeah bro, Ren is the only bro a bro needs bro.

**Cherokee2391:** Yep, it's going to be great.

**RyoTheSaiyan:** I like to believe Jaune is both lucky and unlucky. Good to know you like finding the references as much as I like making them! Though I'm surprised you didn't notice the not-so-subtle Mario reference.

**Whitemage1998:** Thanks, obvious Mario reference is obvious. High five!

**Benthino:** Hopefully this plan meets your expectations and I'm glad you enjoyed.

**poor badger (Guest):** Of course I do, I've planned out the beginning and the end and I will never stop updating until it is finished. Though there may be a long time between updates, a month at most hopefully, I _will_ finish it.

**NinjaFang1331:** Thanks!

**Anonymous Prick 3:** Jaune obviously just doesn't want to get killed by Weiss. Nice catch on the Mario reference! And I always try to reply to any review, no matter what, as my thanks to those who take time from their lives to read and review my story!

**garoorar: **Blake wasn't her best after having to deal with a dust-changed Weiss. It's like a parent who stayed up the entire night because of a mischievous baby, they're exhausted and don't care about anything but sleep.  
I both hate and love when people are genre savvy, it's great watching them try to predict what's going to happen. Though you'll have to see if your predictions are correct.

**dracohalo117:** Glad you enjoyed, shame the ad got in the way.

**CrazyTrollR49:** Yep it was a reference to Mario.

**DarkElucidator:** Good catch, high-five! Though what's JSE?

**gammabeta99:** Who knows, maybe Weiss might not remember? Thanks for the praise!

**Akuma-Heika:** D's Journal is from Bravely Default. Jaune's team is just nice to a fault, which is why they apologised for their leader getting into trouble despite it being something out of their control. Thanks for that, I fixed the mistake.

**Demigod of Win (Guest):** Happy to see you got the reference!

**woahwatdecripe (Guest):** Yes that was a reference to Mario. Also, Jaune is already suffering from balancing the affections of multiple girls so I think that has long since passed.

**wman243:** …I think you might want to redo your review because either Fan Fiction messed up, or you actually put "Type your review for this chapter here..."

**LoveGlutton:** Oh ok. You'll see if you're correct or not about the catfight.

**Guest (Guest):** Thanks, glad you found it funny!

**Aegorm:** Sorry about that arc but it was done deliberately, I know I could've structured it better but what's done is done. Believe it or not I'm actually a novice writer still so I obviously make mistakes every now and again and it's up to you readers to tell me how I could do better. Thanks for telling me your thoughts.

**Vergil Creiger:** An interesting idea, but you'll see what I have in store for Weiss' new character.

**Kamen Rider Zodiac:** Thanks! I'm happy you enjoy my story. Don't worry, I'm trying my hardest to finished this.

**And that is that, so without further ado, onto the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: RWBY and any other franchises referenced all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 14- I love my master! Pt 2

Jaune blushed heavily as he walked through the streets of Vale for the second time that week. _This is becoming a recurring thing isn't it?_… He thought sarcastically to himself. Weiss gripped his arm tighter as they rounded a corner, further enforcing his blush. _Weiss will murder me, Weiss will murder me, Weiss will murder me, _echoed around his head like a mantra. The knight sighed in reluctant defeat and decided to just let the girl do as she pleased. Besides, whose to say that she'll retain her memories of the experience after the whole ordeal was done?... He rolled his eyes. Wishful thinking. "I can't believe Amethyst managed to convince me to do this." He sighed exasperatedly, putting his hands in his jacket pockets.

Weiss nodded, letting go of his hand and twirled excitedly before him. "I know! It's great right?" Jaune's eye briefly gazed over her as the urge to use his semblance rose slowly. Then he beat it down... brutally. The young writer stared at the girl's alice blue hair, light blue strapless summer dress and silver eyes. "Are you okay Master?" Asked the girl concernedly. Blue eyes met silver briefly, causing a small blush to float around their cheeks.

"I-I'm fine." Answered Jaune quickly, suddenly several times more conscious about the small space between the two. He just couldn't get used to her new appearance, it suited her new persona so well. Enough so that he and Amethyst had decided on a new name to refer to the new 'personality' by. "Where did you want to go first… Alice?" They had decided on the name after they changed her hair and eye colour with dust, believing that it fit her. Who knew that some dusts could do things like that? He'd certainly have to pay more attention in Dust Alchemy class.

Alice smiled, "Anywhere you are Master." She replied truthfully. The blond boy sighed, _although that is incredibly adorable and flattering, it doesn't help me much… Where do people even go on dates?_ Dust, where was he even going to Weiss if she had ever said yes? Jaune frowned as his mind drew blank. Did he really not have a plan? He scoffed, of course he did! Eventually one day Weiss would say yes…

Right? "Hey!" Growled out a voice from the earpiece he was wearing. Blond hair jumped as the boy winced, surprised by the sudden yell. "Pay attention, it isn't proper for a man to ignore his date." Huffed Amethyst from the small transmitter. The young knight's eye twitched, how did she manage to convince him to do this?

Jaune shook his head, he could contemplate ways to get back at her later. Right now he was on a date and had to think of a place to go to. The two paused in their stroll upon hearing a loud noise similar to that of thunder.

Jaune laughed as he recognised the noise immediately. "How about we head somewhere for some lunch?" Suggested the writer, all too familiar with the sound of a hungry stomach after having to deal with six sisters who couldn't cook. The young woman nodded in agreement,

"I'm starving!" She exclaimed happily without any sense of shame. Jaune snickered as he heard the rumbling once more.

"I could tell." He teased. The knight gestured for her to follow, "Come, I know about a good place for food."

* * *

Four girls frowned as they stared at the scene from behind the corner of a building. "Who is she?" Questioned a blond woman curiously, "Since when did Vomit Boy get a girl?" A red haired champion to her right nodded. How dare someone take her leader without her prior notice or permission! Not that she'd give it to them in the first place.

The ninja-girl above them shook her head exhaustedly. This morning she had been woken earlier than normal by her team's early morning misadventures. "Why am I even doing this?" Sighed the girl as she folded her arms.

The blond girl rolled her eyes, "Because I promised you some tuna after we were done." The black haired girl cursed her exploitable addiction to the delicious fish. The, arguably, bustiest of the four frowned as she stared at the pavement in thought. Why did it feel as if she was forgetting something about the boy across the street?

"They're leaving." Commented the fourth member of the group nonchalantly. The girl mentally snickered at the other three girls, watching in amusement as they frantically ran across to catch them. This was turning out to be more entertaining than she initially thought it would be.

The buxom blond smirked, aiming a knowing look at the black haired girl to her left. The red haired girl frowned from behind the conveniently placed bush a few meters away from the familiar café window. "Does Jaune take every girl he goes on a date with to that café _Blake_?" The introvert stiffened upon noticing the vine-covered stone, rusting metal sign and familiar inside setting. It was indeed the café they had agreed to meet up at a few days ago.

"F-For your information Yang, we somehow managed to see each other by _complete_ coincidence. He didn't take me there." She stuttered. They just weren't going to let her live it down were they? Though it _was_ all worth it for that book… and the view…

Yang's smirk widened sending a nervous chill down Blake's spine. "Oh Blakey~ You didn't deny that you two went on a date." The young beauty blushed lightly and growled at her partner.

"He and I did not go out! And there isn't anything between us now!" She cried embarrassedly.

Jaune's eye twitched, pretending to ignore the interaction a meter from the window. They were creating a scene that everyone within the café other than himself was watching, even the waitress had stopped serving with several heavy dishes balancing along her arms. _I wonder when they'll realise they stood up a few minutes ago…_

He had no idea what they were arguing about, but if they were going to follow him they could have at least tried to be subtle about it. Blake was a ninja for dust's sake yet she was the one making the most noise. He deadpanned at the red waving hair behind the same bush the two were arguing over. Pyrrha was leaking enough killing intent to fill a public swimming pool, and maybe a few buckets on the side.

The young knight continued to ignore the three in favour of paying more attention to Wei- er, Alice. What was he going to do now? He had taken Alice to Vale under the premise of a date so that the other students wouldn't find out about Weiss' change of personality, but that would only be for one day. There were still five more days he had to watch over her for. Jaune sighed, this was going to be a long week.

He blinked as a pale white hand passed by his face. "Is something troubling you Master?" Asked the pale blue haired girl before him. Jaune chuckled. Shaking his head he returned to drinking his white hot chocolate peacefully ignoring the yelling outside that had drawn in quite a crowd. There wasn't much point in fretting over it now. He could probably knock off a day or two by spending them cooped up in Amethyst's room, and they could work on that short story competition in the meantime.

Putting down his finished white hot chocolate the writer spoke. "Alright, let's head off to the docks." Alice cheered, accepting any decision he master made.

"Why the docks?" Queried Amethyst from the earpiece.

Jaune blinked, he had forgotten she was there. "Didn't I tell you? There's a fair on near the docks currently for the upcoming Vytal Festival." Alice smiled, they were going to go to a fair?

"Sounds fun!"

Pyrra's glare intensified as she stared at the white-blue haired girl who dared to spend time with her leader. The blond student had been missing for the better part of the previous day and now she finds him with some other woman! Who even was she? "Alice." Stated Blake suddenly. Noting the confused looks from the other girls the bookworm elaborated, "Earlier I heard Jaune call her Alice." The four 'ahh'd' in understanding. _How did Blake hear their conversation from here?_

"Alrighty then, let's follow Vomit Boy and this Alice chick! Maybe we'll solve the mystery of who she is." Cheered Yang enthusiastically. Blake deadpanned at the busty blond.

"Yang, we aren't detectives." Said the bookworm pointedly.

The young boxer scoffed and puffed out her chest adamantly, "Says you. I could totally pull off Sherlock Holmes or Edogawa Conan." Grinned the girl cheekily. "Besides, it'll be fun!" The fourth girl chuckled at their antics, it was a good thing she came along. These people were more amusing than she could've hoped for!

* * *

Jaune 'stealthily' averted his eyes from the awed gaze of the former heiress before him. The word beautiful came to mind for a brief moment before he remember she wasn't Weiss. "I still can't believe you haven't ever seen a Ferris Wheel before." Commented the boy nonchalantly. He chuckled upon receiving no response, the girl being too engrossed by the giant rotating wheel.

He froze in place as she turned to him, eyes shimmering brightly with excitement. "Can we ride it Master?" The young knight gulped. _Calm down Jaune, sure her eyes are shining brighter than a thousand suns, but that doesn't mean you can melt down._ "Master?" The blond writer yelped girlishly and leaped backwards, how did she 'suddenly' appear before him so quickly?

"S-sorry Wei- er, Alice. I was deep in thought." Clearing his throat inconspicuously the boy motioned towards the first attraction stand. "How about we go on the Ferris Wheel last? It's much better at night." Alice nodded happily.

"Of course Master! Ooh! What are those?" She cried out in excitement upon seeing the first stand's games. Jaune snickered at how awed the girl was about her new surroundings. It was almost as if she had found her own wonderland. The light blue haired girl gasped in awe as she watched someone receive a large stuffed animal from a booth. Looking at the prizes it seemed like it ranged from small toys to cheap plastic accessories and a multitude of plush animals.

The two's eyes were attracted to an open-top booth with a red banner arcing over it proudly. It appeared to be fairly popular due to the attention it was attracting from the banner. Jaune blinked at one of the prizes within the stand, "Why a shark?" Who in Remnant would want a shark for a to-

His question was answered almost immediately as Alice rushed to the stand, her eyes fixated upon the stuffed fish. "Alrighty then missy, if ya' want a prize all ya' have to do is knock it down with this here toy pistol. Easy right? An' you get four shots to boot!" Explained the man keeping the booth enthusiastically. "An' don't worry, they may look and act like real dust rounds but they're actually just pellets infused with a little wind dust to add a small knockback effect. It'd only leave a scratch on another person."

The young boy smirked at the young woman's determined expression as she took aim. "So what are you aiming for Alice?" He asked curiously despite already knowing the answer. The girl appeared to be unaware of his voice, choosing to instead stare in front of her. Jaune watched as she pointed the pistol directly at her target, knowing Weiss she would be able to take the shot unerringly.

"…"

As she fired the four shots Jaune couldn't help but smile, he had been correct… kind of. The blond writer had to resist doubling over in laughter as Alice had somehow managed to miss the toy she was aiming at, but knock over all of the four objects surrounding it. "Here're your winnin's miss." Laughed the man attending the booth. The knight accepted the four things for her, knowing she would be feeling more than a little annoyed.

"How!" Cried the girl in disbelief. Now that he thought about it, there was no way Weiss would have experience shooting a pistol. Especially not when she already had her dust rapier Myrtenaster. "It's harder than it looks!" She growled angrily, no doubt noticing his amused expression.

He grinned at the former Tsundere. "Alright, my turn! Four shots please!" Exclaimed Jaune as he placed his lien before the man, eyes fired up. Loading the first shot, the boy took aim.

Alice pouted, here Master was laughing at her not being able to use a pistol properly, yet he was pointing it in completely the wrong direction. The young writer adorned a mischievous expression as he took his first shot. The people around them watched curiously as the dust bullet flew out of sight upwards. Loading again the boy shot in the same general direction.

The girl glared at her master, he was a worse shot than her! Shooting his third pellet upwards to the left, the hunter in training loaded his final shot. "I see why you use a melee, dustless weapon now." Grumbled the girl. She had to admit though, despite being a toy gun it had a fairly long range considering it was able to launch the dust pellets out of viewing distance.

Jaune grinned and winked at the audience he had attracted with his other three shots. "Bang" He spoke casually as he shot a wooden post a few meters to the right. The crowd watched as the dust pellet bounced upwards and hit something above the stand. Alice took a few steps closer to see what it hit. _I swear, if he accidentally shot a bird…_

"Whoa!" Cried a young boy within the crowd as the banner above the stand began to fall. The audience watched as the banner dropped onto the shelf of prizes and pulled everything from the top and any prizes sticking out off. Jaune grinned triumphantly as he noticed the object the former Tsundere wanted fall over along with the other prizes.

"Sorry about the mess sir." Apologised the knight politely. He scratched the back of his head nervously, not expecting so many things to have fallen.

The older man shook his head and laughed, "Don't worry about it boy. I haven't seen a shot like that since some young brat won a gift for each of his seven sisters despite only being able to afford four pellets." The blond writer flinched for a split second. He had felt really bad about cheating the man out of his money but his sisters really wanted those prizes. _I'd better not tell him that 'young brat' was me._ Though who knew the gun lessons he got from Roman as a kid would lead to this?

"That was amazing mister!" Exclaimed the children who had gathered around to watch the spectacle. "How did you do that?"

The young man laughed, "It was easy really. I noticed that there was a banner held up with five thin strings above the stand. Then using the wind dust infused in the pellets I cut three of the strings holding it up then quickly cute the last two strings with one pellet so it wouldn't fall off course." The children looked in awe at the knight, eyes wide with wonder.

"You're really awesome mister!" Cried a little girl.

Alice smiled warmly at Jaune as he grinned sheepishly at the kids whilst distributing out the winnings he earned to them. "He really is."

The blond blinked and turned his head to the white-blue haired girl. "Did you say something?" The former Tsundere shook her head, hiding her smile as she did so. "Well, here's that shark plush you wanted." The crowd laughed at the girl, amused by her childlike beam.

"So… you two kissing yet?" Asked Amethyst from the earpiece. Jaune groaned, he had forgotten she was there.

"Wow miss, you're really lucky to have such a cool boyfriend. When I grow up, I want one like him!" Exclaimed one of the younger girls as she smiled at the light-blue haired girl.

Alice blushed, "H-he's not my boyfriend, he's my master!" She cried indignantly, arms thrown downwards to emphasis her point.

"…"

Jaune resisted the urge to shoot himself with the dust pistol. Hesitantly taking a tentative glance at the reactions he was unsurprised to see the shocked looks on the people old enough to understand. "I'm sorry for you loss." Commented Amethyst. _Not helping!_

"Well uh, I'd love to stay around and chat but unfortunately we have to go somewhere… that isn't here." Using the skills he honed over years of practice, skills of running away that is, Jaune escaped from the potentially fatal misunderstanding. The two rushed past several stalls selling different items and booths with multiple types of fair games and attractions as the sun began to set.

The blond knight panted heavily as they reached the other side of the fair. He groaned exhaustedly and collapsed against the metal beam behind him. "I swear to dust Alice, please stop calling me 'Master' in public. It gives people the wrong idea."

The changed heiress stared at him with a blank expression, clearly not understanding what he meant. "But you _are_ my master, so wouldn't it be the right idea?" The novice swordsman groaned a second time, why did this girl have no social awareness at all?

"Never mind, just… I-" He sighed in defeat, "Do you want to go on the Ferris Wheel now?" Receiving a nod and a large grin of conformation from the pale blue haired girl Jaune smiled softly. "Alright let's go!"

"And as the two made it halfway up the Ferris Wheel the boy blushed heavily, the ride coming to a shuddering stop. They were now alone up there where no one could see them. He stared at the girl, the light from the city below illuminating her features in all the right ways. The girl smirked knowingly upon catching his gaze. He gasped and looked down embarrassedly, ashamed of being caught staring. "It's okay if it's you." Whispered the girl before him sensually as she lowered her dress slightly to show some of her cleavage. She simpered, pleased with herself once she noticed the lust fill his ey- wait, that wouldn't work. Weiss is flatter than a tire on spikes." Jaune's eyes twitched at the earpiece, glaring at it angrily. He had long since thrown it into the trash bin while waiting for Alice to return from the toilets, but he could still hear it due to the close proximity. "Jaune I know you're still there~" Chimed the librarian. "You know you can't hide it, this is the date you've always been waiting for. Finally a chance to be with your 'Snow Angel'."

"…"

"Just saying, there were air quotes around 'Snow Angel'." Jaune facepalmed. "Hah! I heard that, so you are still there!" The hunter in training groaned,

"Dear dust you are _really_ trying my patience right now." He growled angrily at the earpiece in the bin.

"You know you love me~ Oh wait, no you love Weiss!" Teased the purple haired girl as she laughed. "… Jaune? H-hello? Jaune? Don't you dare leave that earpiece behind, it cost me a week's pay!" Needless to say, the people around the toilet chose not to enter, not wanting to deal with a ticked off rubbish bin.

* * *

"What do you mean they got into a Ferris Wheel alone?" Cried Pyrrha to Blake from her walkie talkie. The ninja girl rolled her eyes,

"Exactly as it sounds, the two gave the man their tickets and entered the Ferris Wheel." Explained the black haired woman for the fourth time.

The champion sighed and rubbed her temples, "And why didn't you stop them?"

"Well for one, why would I want to ruin someone's date? And for another, the carriages are open-top so we'd be able to see if they do something indecent. Frankly, I don't know why you care so much about this. It's just a date." The Spartan girl stayed silent, opting to keep an eye on her leader. _What is this feeling?_ She wondered as she clutched her chest.

Yang rolled on the ground behind the introvert, bored out of her mind despite being in the middle of a fair. "Ugh, why doesn't Vomit Boy just kiss her already? I'm bored!" Complained the busty blond. "Surely Jaune has the guts to be able to at _least_ hug her or something? This is too uneventful and I need my blackmail material."

The fourth girl chuckled as she fixed her sunglasses. "I beg to differ, this is some of the most amusement I've ever had in a fair." Blake frowned as she watched the two interact in the carriage, was she the only one not interested in the knight's love life? Dust, she didn't even know who the brown haired woman next to her was let alone the girl currently on a date with him.

"Curse my easily exploitable love for tuna…"

* * *

Jaune fiddled with his fingers nervously, finding immense amusement from messing with his gloves. Why was he so tense? He was only alone with a beautiful girl who was currently attached to his arm and looking at him with an expectant look. No big deal right? "Are you okay Mas-" The blond boy squealed like a young child after seeing a ghost.

The two stared at each other for a couple of moments, trying to wrap their heads around his unmanly scream. "Let's just pretend that didn't happen…" He mumbled sadly. _Well, if I hadn't already lost all my masculinity by being surrounded by women who could kick my ass by sneezing, literally in Nora's case, then I sure as dust lost what little I had left after that girly squeal…_ Deciding to tread carefully around 'not ticking off Weiss while Alice was still in control' Jaune sat opposite of the girl, making use of the three person's worth of space on the seat.

The boy smiled as he took the time to observe the wheel and ignore his growing sense of motion sickness. The entire structure had been painted a white colour to contrast it to the darkness of the night, which is when it's visuals would be most prominent if the bright lights fixed upon it were of any clue. The carriage he was currently sitting in had no glass on the windows, but was large enough to fit six people of average size sitting down, leaving plenty of room for him and the former heiress sitting next to him.

Wait, next to- Jaune blinked, when did she-? The light blue haired girl pouted, "Are you trying to avoid me Master?"

"… No." Lied Jaune as he moved to the other side. His eye twitched in annoyance once the girl followed him. The boy quickly sat on the left only to be just as quickly followed by Alice. The two continued to move almost mechanically until- "Careful!" He cried as the girl suddenly lost her footing.

"Huh?" She spoke hesitantly, surprised to suddenly be on the floor of the carriage.

"I'd appreciate it if you would get off me now." Mumbled the knight from under her, wincing slightly in pain. The young woman muttered several apologies to her master but was interrupted as the blond writer shook his head. "It's fine, though that was really close. You could've fallen out Snow Angel."

Alice flinched and smiled sadly, staring blankly at the floor. Slowly making his way to the seat he finally gave in and decided to let her sit next to him. The silence between the two disturbed him greatly. He stared at her curiously, where was her earlier energy? The sound of the wheel creaking to a halt broke the silence for a moment.

"Master." Jaune's head perked up at suddenly being addressed, though her serious voice peaked his interest. "Why do you like Weiss?" The knight froze at the question. Wasn't that a bit too sudden? Either way it was easy, he liked her because- "And I'd appreciate the truth." He closed his mouth.

"It's not about why I like her." He started again after a few minutes of silence. Alice looked at him curiously, eager to find out the truth. "If anything, the question should be about how could I not like her? Everything about her makes me think she's perfect." That surprised her, she had access to a few memories of 'Weiss' and according to them Jaune was just an annoyingly cute boy who wanted to date her so he could be part of the Schnee Dust company. "-and the scar on her eye just lets her beautiful eyes stand out in a way that makes my knees weak. I could go on for days about how perfect I think she is… In fact, she's too perfect." The girl stared blankly at him, _too perfect?_

"When I think about it I realise she is too good for me. She tries her absolute hardest to one day become something I believe she already is while I just stand here and pretend to be some half-baked hero." Alice motioned to deny his negativity but he ignored her and continued,  
"Then I saw it. I saw her with that look I often seen in the mirror. A look of doubt, fear and self-contempt and I think to myself, 'Even if she's too good for me. Even if it will just end up with me face down in the mud while she reaches her dreams, I will stop at nothing to make sure she never shows that face around me until the day comes where another person that she can believe in tells her that she is perfect. That's why I always shower her with praise, because while she looks cold and sharp on the outside, she's actually very fragile and kind-hearted on the inside. To me, she'll always be a Snow Angel." Jaune laughed, his voice hoarse after speaking for so long. "Though, it feels weird telling you this."

Alice quickly hid her tears upon realising that he was finished with his spiel. "Master, you really are a dolt." Jaune winced, here he was, emotionally exhausted after confessing his thoughts… and the girl calls him a dolt. _What is a dolt anyway?_ "You may be a dolt… but you're my dolt." He blushed as Alice hugged him tightly. Maybe being a dolt wasn't too bad of a thing… but seriously, he'd have to consult the dictionary on what a dolt was.

"Excuse me. Um, sorry to interrupt what appears to be a beautiful moment, but these people have been waiting for their turn for ten minutes. Could you please get out of the carriage?" The two blushed and quickly separated.

"S-sorry." Apologised the blond writer as he pulled the former Tsundere away, making their out of the fair. Thankfully conveying his thoughts somehow managed to keep down his motion sickness. Now he was just emotionally exhausted. "So… now what?" He asked curiously once the two reached the outside of the fair.

The girl tapped her finger on her chin in thought, "Hmm… Well I'm feeling really tired after such a great date with my master. Could you accompany me back to Beacon?" Jaune chuckled at the cheesy sentence. It was enough to rival his pickup lines.

"Sure… Alice."

* * *

"Where in Remnant did those two go!" Cried Yang in frustration. They had taken their eyes off of them for a second because Blake had run into a kid with a laser pointer and the couple disappeared. _Now_ what was she supposed to do for fun? There was nothing to do in this fair! She gazed around slowly before her eyes landed on a silver shining object on the ground.

The busty blond stared at the pointer the boy had dropped after running in fear from Blake. "Hmm…"

"Yang? Where did you go?" Called Pyrrha worriedly. That fourth girl had disappeared as well. She blinked in confusion as she noticed a red dot on her clothing. "Huh? What is thi- Gah Blake! What are you doing?" The males in the area stopped in their tracks as the spectacle before them caught their attention. "Blake- What ARE YOU- eek! No don- Kya! N-not there I'm ticklish!" Needless to say, for many men the trip to the fair was definitely worth it.

* * *

The walk back to the airship from the fair was spent in silence for the majority of the trip, neither of the two knowing what to say to the other. Jaune was still emotionally exhausted after his spiel and the fact that the dust changing her hair and eye colour wore off wasn't helping. They had to resort to taking the longer, less populated route to avoid unwanted attention due to her being the Schnee heiress.

The young knight sulked at the silence, _curse my social awkwardness!_ He exclaimed mentally. If he were honest, he would've really appreciated it if something would somehow interrupt the silence. The two jumped in their skins as a twig snapped under his foot.  
"… Not what I was expecting." He muttered under his breath. "And what is a stick doing this far away from a park or forest?" To his surprise the two were suddenly blocked by a group of people ranging between teens to people in their mid-twenties. Jaune groaned, jumping backwards with Alice to assume fighting stances. For once could things stop being so cliché?

The white haired girl quickly wrapped a cloth around her face, hoping the darkness would conceal her appearance. "How many are there?" She whispered to him, eyes dashing around and taking in their environment.

The writer's eyes flashed for a fraction of a second as he analysed the enemies and their actions. "At least five within view. The two on the right appear to be more relaxed so assume that there are reinforcements down that alley." The heiress nodded slowly, her frown hidden neatly behind the cloth.

The man in the middle grinned, "Well what do we have here?" He cackled, "it appears you two are lost. Why else would you be wandering in _our_ territory?" Jaune blinked, _territory?_ He channelled little bit more aura into his semblance, making sure not to use too much on the chance they were adept in sensing aura. The knight clicked his tongue; this made things a little harder. "Don't you worry, we'll help you find where you're going. For a little price of course."

Having no other choice but to play along the blond student spoke slowly. "Price?"

The man laughed, "It's not much, just _all_ of the lien you have on hand. Or maybe…" Jaune gulped, "We could do this the hard way?" He twitched slightly as the lackeys around them brought out knives. The man in the middle grinned wildly, taking out a basic dust revolver and a knife that appeared to be for hunting if the jagged blade was of any clue.

"We'd better do as they say." He said calmly, "It would be a lot easier." Silence was all he received in response from the girl as she stared them down. "Besides," he continued, "if you fight them as you are now they'd be able to tell you're actually Weiss, they are Faunus so they can see in the dark."

Alice smiled from behind the mask. "I have an idea." She stated confidently. "Besides, it is our duty to take down anyone disturbing the peace, be they human, Grimm or Faunus. We can't call ourselves hunters-in-training otherwise." The young man sighed, as much as he'd love to run away, she had a point. He nodded subtly at the woman, deciding to go with whatever she had planned.

"Oi, did you hear me? I said hand over your lien. Or do you actually think you can take on all of us?" Growled the male dog Faunus in the middle.

"Halt you evildoer! I will never let you get away with a crime such as this!" _…What?_ Jaune hesitantly turned around to see Alice brandishing Myrtenaster, holding it in the same fencing style as Weiss. Normally he would be worried that they would realise it was actually Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company, but the worm costume really stopped that train of thought dead. "Prepare to face justice!" Before anyone could react to her strange statement and appearance Alice used a glyph to augment her speed as she swiftly struck two Faunus on the back of the neck, knocking them out. Jaune stared in utter confusion at the girl, shocked silent by her theatrics of leaping backwards onto a dumpster and making a pose. "Young man I have never seen before! I'll deal with these henchmen, you take on the ringleader."

The blond knight laughed, that was a good joke. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? There was no way he could take him on, dust he could barely manage to beat a single Grimm. The girl in the worm costume ignored his blank look and proceeded to knock out the henchmen behind him, taking note of the six other Faunus hidden around the corner. "Y-you're kidding right?" He laughed nervously as the knife passed by his head, taking out a few strands of hear. The hunter in training yelped and rolled away from the second wild swing.

The Faunus man growled motioned to kick him but Jaune managed to roll away again at the last second, his semblance working overtime to predict the larger man's attacks. He didn't have Crocea Mors on him and he didn't really want to know how or where Alice got a _worm costume_ and Myrtenaster. All he had was his aura, semblance and Pyrrha's small amount of training. Wait, he had Pyrrha's training! "Alrighty Jaune, just calm down and think. Remember, Pyrrha said that your strongest skill is your ability to think on your feet, so we just need to exploit that." He muttered to himself.

His opponent scowled, having heard him talking to himself due to his enhanced hearing. "Are you makin' fun of me punk?" The blond knight ignored the man entirely and began to breath slowly. "Let's see if you're still looking down on me after this!" The dog Faunus grinned madly as he made a wild dash at the young man, his hunter's knife aimed towards the heart. Jaune quickly put all of his weight on his back, descending quickly. The man blinked in confusion as he hit air, the space Jaune had been occupying was empty. His eyes widened upon looking down, the brat had bent backwards until his hands hit the pavement. The blond grinned at his opponent's dumbfounded look.

_Step one check, initiating step two_. The smaller of the two quickly took advantage of the opening and performed a backflip, kicking the man in the face in the process. Not relenting, he moved in and elbowed the Faunus in the ribcage before punching him rapidly in the same area. "You brat!" Coughed the ringleader as he went to swipe at the boy once more, only for him to sidestep out of the way. The knight stared emotionlessly at his assailant as he thought mechanically to himself. _Step six complete. Analysing situation, preparing step seven_. _Block then proceed to phase two._

Jaune effortlessly blocked the horizontal swing with his right hand, providing him with the necessary opening. Emotionless, the knight quickly pulled his opponent in and kneed him hard in the gut, forcing him to drop the knife as he did so. The writer smirked as he leapt backwards and pulled the man towards him once again, hand still tightly gripped on the wrist, but this time he used the momentum to spin him around and kick him in the back. The Faunus growled as he stumbled forwards, annoyed he was getting tossed around by such a scrawny brat.

"Give up." Stated the blond student calmly. However, on the inside he was ecstatic. _Pyrrha's training is working!_ After watching him fight and taking the time to observe his natural style the champion had noticed his best skills were his fast thinking and analytical abilities. Keeping this in mind she asked Ren to teach him the basics of hand-to-hand combat and she herself taught him sword basics.

The brown haired Faunus smiled wickedly at him as he glared daggers. His ragged hood had fallen off long ago, exposing his dog-ears to the boy. "I've had enough of your games. I should've used this from the start." Jaune flinched backwards as the man held up the dust revolver. _Six shots_, he thought to himself. The writer's eyes widened and scanned wildly in hopes of finding something to get him out of the situation. "It's over." He realised the answer too late.

"Watch out!" Upon instinct he winced only to realise he wasn't feeling any pain. He stood silently as he heard a faint thump sound to his left. Against his better judgement he looked to the left to see a white haired girl in a worm costume crumpled up on the floor.

Suddenly, no more instructions flew through his head as he stared blankly at the body. For absolutely no reason at all, he began to laugh. The Faunus man stared at the boy warily, his friend was on the floor and all he could do was laugh? Did he break him?  
"You know, I always thought that revenge and anger were just simple concepts made up to justify war. I believed that one should never get angry enough to seek revenge." The Faunus man had no idea what the brat was ranting about, but he didn't really care. All he had to do was reach the knife quickly before he realised that she- "Until now I haven't gotten _that_ angry at anyone." Continued the boy, his eyes shadowed by his hair. "In fact, even now I'm not angry." Before the ringleader could reach the knife the blond knight jammed it under his foot. His hand froze in fear as Jaune suddenly glared at him, his gaze piercing his soul. "No. I'm absolutely _livid_."

The brown haired Faunus had no idea what hit him. One moment he was an inch away from the knife, the next he found himself on the ground several feet away. Before he could get up though he was launched backwards once more by a swift kick to the gut. The man groaned in pain, his breath shaky. Slowly and painfully moving into a seated position, he smiled as he stared the boy directly in the eyes, not caring about the fist making it's way to his head.

Jaune stared in silence at the knocked out Faunus. "You wont be needing these." He commented casually as he grabbed the dust revolver, knife and the holster and sheath to hold them. "You can get up now Alice."

A loud snort came from the direction of the crumpled worm costume, "What are you talking about? I just got shot! Jaune you meanie- uh, I mean gah my wound hurts! Looks like you'll have to carry me back to Beacon. Tehe~" The young writer smiled and let loose a shaky breath he had been holding, glad that she was unharmed.

He scoffed and wiped his eyes clear of the tears he had been hiding. "Yeah right. I noticed there wasn't anything in the barrel." He lied. The knight hadn't noticed it was empty until he swiped the gun. Alice smiled softly at the blond and gently wiped away the tears he had missed.

"Of course, of course." She giggled. "I'm happy that you care so much for me."

"Though I'm mad at you for pretending to be hurt just to get me to carry you. You're one of my precious friends now Alice, and I'd hate to see you leave." The white haired girl still in a worm costume flinched briefly and rolled her eyes,

"Yeah, yeah Mister 'I'm not angry, I'm livid." She pouted mentally to herself as she clenched her chest tightly, _it's not fair that you can say something cool like that to me right now…_ "Let's just get going. I'd hate to miss the last ship and that fight now made me sleepier so… carry me?"

"… No."

* * *

Alice laughed melodically as Jaune reverse-ate his food right into the trashcan. "So close…" He groaned out hoarsely. He had almost made it, he _almost_ made an entire _minute_ without vomiting right after departure!

"Are you okay Master?" The knight laughed and reassured the girl that he was fine. Though he would've preferred it if she would stop calling him 'Master'. The young woman had taken off the worm costume sometime during the flight back.

Taking a deep breath, he took a dive. "Alice." The girl's head perked up, "I was wondering… um, would it be okay if, we uh… we went out like this again sometime? But, without the whole fight for our lives?" He had come to realise that even if he hadn't known her for that long he enjoyed hanging out and just having fun with her, it was strange.

"… I don't know, I had fun with the fight." Replied the girl cheekily. Jaune groaned at the teasing. "… I'd absolutely love another date master. Maybe some day."

Jaune grinned at the young woman before him, excited for their next outing. "Bye Alice, I'll see you soon okay?" The girl's white hair shone under the moonlight, a streak of water almost unidentifiable in the darkness sparkled as she walked off.

"Goodbye Master."

The blond knight smiled happily to himself as he traversed the halls of Beacon, maybe, just maybe, this week wouldn't be as bad as he initially thought.

* * *

Jaune yawned and stretched, earning a few satisfying pops from his back. There wasn't much to do what with no classes, Pyrrha out cold for who knows what reason and Ren and Nora strangely missing. All the two childhood friends had left was a note saying,  
'We will be back in an hour. Nora ate all the syrup so we're borrowing some from the kitchen.  
PS. If we (Namely Nora) aren't back in an hour please apologise to Professor Ozpin for eating all of the food in the storage.'

The blond student chuckled at his teammate's antics. As much as he'd love to stay and wait for the two to return, he already had a plan. The young man grinned as he made his way to the library, eager to begin the short story for the competition with his new friend. To his surprise however Alice was already outside in the hall, her back to him. He smile cheerfully at the girl. "Hey!" He greeted as he reached his arm out to notify her of his presence.

"What do you need Jaune?" Asked Weiss curiously, turning around to face him.

Jaune froze at the non-Alice-like gaze. "What?" He mumbled to no one in particular. _She isn't… already?_ He thought to himself, hand still hovering above the newly returned heiress' shoulder. It almost felt too soon, to the point where it was ironic. This was what he wanted… right? This was going to happen eventually, he just… didn't expect it to be now.  
The knight winced as he remembered what she had said the knight prior, or rather lack thereof.

"_Goodbye Master."_

He hadn't realised it before, having just chalked it off as the girl's was of saying 'see you later!' But, she had _actually_ meant goodbye.  
There was no way right? She couldn't have known she would've turned back already. How? Why didn't she tell him? Roman wasn't finished with the antidote, why was she back to normal?

Jaune stared blankly and rested his hand on his head as his vision began to blur. _No, I feel fine so… why?_ He stared in shock at his damp hand. _Tears? I'm happy right? I got my Snow Angel back, so I'm happy._ He shook his head, _then… why am I?_

Weiss watched in silence as a myriad of emotions blazed through Jaune's expressions. He had been muttering random things whilst staring at her with empty eyes, which was alerting considering it was _Jaune_ of all people. "Are you okay?" She asked concernedly. The knight winced, _'Are you okay Master?'_ The blond smiled,

"I'm fine Alice. If you need me, I'll just be… somewhere." The heiress flinched at his expression, did she really hurt him that much? She stared at the boy as he slowly walked away, his legs appeared as if they'd collapse at a moments notice.

"Alice…" She mumbled to herself, a troubled look appearing on her face briefly. "J-Jaune!" She stuttered out. "_Jaune!_" The writer turned around, nearly toppling over from the effort. "I-I don't know why, but when I woke up this morning there was this note on my bed." Jaune frowned, what did this have to do with him? "It's from someone called 'Alice'." The blond boy nearly fell over in surprise but managed to muster the strength to motion for her to continue.  
"What she basically wanted to say was…" Jaune's eyes widened as Weiss did a shaft head turn, a few tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "I'll see you soon Master, I'm still waiting for that date you promised me."

With her message finished the heiress quickly rushed away. The boy sighed with a shaky breath, "Thank you." He smiled, "I needed that."

* * *

Jaune frowned as he entered the library, sure he knew Alice wouldn't want him feeling down but it was hard to stay happy when you knew one of your friends were gone. He smiled sadly, it was hard but that wouldn't stop him from trying.

The boy stared in surprise at the book filled room, there wasn't another person in sight other than a certain sleeping purple haired librarian. The woman was currently snoring on one of the library reading couches, unaware of his presence. Although it was rare that _no one_ would be in the library on a day off, they all probably thought it was closed on account of the snoozing librarian.

Jaune spoke softly as he approached the girl, "Amethyst wake up." Upon receiving no response he took a step closer in order to shake her awake. What he didn't realise was she was awake the entire time.

That was, of course, until she began to wring his neck. "You owe me _so_ much lien!" She cried angrily as she stopped chocking him in favour of shaking him. The blond boy could do nothing but meekly slap her arms in a feeble attempt to get her off. "That earpiece is special to me! It was given to me by-"

The knight felt dizzy in the girl's hands, unable to speak for a few moments before he finally managed to hold up the item in question. Amethyst gasped and quickly grabbed the earpiece, letting go of the poor blond's shoulders. Jaune coughed and spluttered as he inhaled as much air as he could. After a few minutes of catching his breath the boy scoffed weakly, "As if I'd leave such an expensive looking thing in the trash. I picked it up again after you stopped yelling."

The young woman looked at him apologetically, "Sorry about that…" Jaune, being Jaune, just waved it off. The purple haired librarian shook her head, "No I mean, I didn't realise I still had some powdered dust left on my hands." The writer tilted his head to the side in confusion. "The marks on your neck and clothes." Upon close inspection of the areas mentioned he realised there were indeed some rather distressing marks on his neck.

"Well that explained why I felt dizzy and could barely speak." He muttered under his breath, "It's fine, but what were you doing with dust on your hands anyway?" This time it was the librarian's turn to tilt her head,

"Didn't I tell you? I specialise in dust-based combat." Jaune deadpanned and shook his head negative, this was the first time she mentioned anything remotely close to that. "Anyway, shouldn't you be working on that short story competition you told me about?"

"… Oh yeah." He exclaimed as he snapped his fingers.

The librarian sighed, "Well the library's closed today but you can stay here if you wish. If you need anything I'll be over there reading." Jaune nodded in appreciation, it was a good thing he was friends with the librarian. He got to have the entire library for himself.

After a few minutes of silence between the two the purple haired woman mumbled to herself. "Well this is strange." The blond writer stared curiously at the girl within the section of the library labelled 'Faunus Fiction'. "Apparently Jane Caur hasn't ever featured a Faunus as the protagonist of any of her novels." Jaune blinked. That couldn't be true right? Amethyst stared at Jaune in awe as he began to list every novel made by Jane from beginning to end and their protagonists.

He stared at the short story before him, had he really not made _any_ novels based on a Faunus? He grinned, that meant a whole other type of genre for him to research for and explore… But how was he supposed to research how a Faunus thinks and acts?

"J-Jaune?" Mumbled Amethyst curiously. For the past ten minutes he'd been wearing a fairly serious thinking face. She jumped back in surprise as he snapped his fingers suddenly, he could always get some first hand data from someone who probably knew a lot about Faunus! Who better than the person who seemed to be really passionate about them during class?

Completely ignoring Amethyst's attempts for his attention, Jaune quickly rushed out to find the person who will help him with his research. Nothing would hinder his excitement at the prospect of new forms of research. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. There was a rule that he always upheld whenever he did first hand research.

Unless it was impossible to do so, he must always tell the person that he is doing research on them or learning from their place of establishment. So far the only impossible situations were the recent ones on Beacon, but he trusted this source so it didn't fit into what he classified as an 'impossible situation'. Even despite this, he still did not want to tell them.

"Hey Jaune what's up?" Asked Ruby. The knight yelped in surprise at the sudden appearance of his fellow leader. "Are you headed to the cafeteria too? Everyone else is there." The blond boy shook his head negative and faced Ruby, eyes filled with determination, he _had_ to do this.

"Do you know where Blake is?" The young rose raised a brow, "I have something important to ask her." Ruby blushed, a determined look? Something important to ask her? Dear dust, was Jaune going to confess?

"Sh-she's in our dorm room. She said she'd stay back because she already ate." Stuttered the red-cheeked girl. Before any more could be said the young leader rushed off. He was going to confess to her teammate, what should she do? Should she support them? Cheer him on? Her blush deepened, she needed an adult…  
"YAAAAAAANNNNNNGGGG!"

* * *

Blake sighed happily as she read her book. It was nice to read in silence for once, 'twas a shame that the library was closed but her bed designed specifically for reading was more than enough.

Unfortunately her silent reading time was over too soon as a certain knight tumbled in exhaustedly. The two stayed staring at each other for what felt like an hour. In fact, looking at the time it probably _was_ an hour.

Jaune sighed it was now or never. He had to tell her or he would be going against the rules he made for himself. "H-hey Blake?" He managed to stutter out.

"Hm?" _Finally he said something, it was beginning to get awkward._

"Can you teach me about Faunus', er, Fauni, The Faunus, Fau- you know what I mean." The girl flinched slightly and lightly placed her book on the bed, making sure to mark the page.

She gave him a wary look, "What brought this on?" She queried curiously, "And why ask me?"

Jaune fiddled with his fingers nervously, this was it. He had to tell her now. He exhaled and inhaled deeply, "Well, there's this girl I'm interested in and she's a Faunus so I thought it would be good to know." He lied. He swore colourfully in his head as he berated himself. "And I thought to ask you because, y'know, you're a cat Faunus." Blake's eyes widened to an abnormal size as she gasped,

"P-pardon?" She couldn't believe it, her disguise had been seen through? By _Jaune_? The writer stared at her reaction perplexedly. _I feel like I said something I shouldn't have, but I don't know why_. "How… how did you know?"

At that moment the door caved in to reveal the remainder of Team RWBY and JNPR leaning on it. The revealed Faunus' eyes widened even further. Jaune sighed, well this certainly escalated quickly…

* * *

**And just like that a well-hidden secret is revealed to everyone she wanted to keep it from. Or will it be? Can our lovable yet accident-prone writer find a way to fix the situation and diffuse the ticking time bomb that is Blake Belladonna? Has Jaune really gotten over Alice's leave, and is she **_**really**_** gone? Many questions may be answered next chapter as we dive into the Stray Cat Arc! Hope you enjoyed.**

**So… This chapter was, if you'll pardon my French, a bitch to make. It was excessively long, but I really needed to cram in a lot of important scenes for future plot regarding Jaune and a few others like Weiss. Then there were the character development scenes, and lastly the cliffhanger!**

**Now, for those hardcore RWBY fans who know about the RWBY naming rule… Don't worry. A happy accident on my part allowed me to stumble upon this name halfway through developing this 'new Weiss' called 'Alice'. Like how everyone in Team RWBY was based upon both a colour and a fairy tale, 'Alice' was done so in the exact same way 100% accidentally. I thought up the name when I saw the colour 'Alice Blue' and believed it was a slightly blue tinted version of her original hair colour. Luckily enough, it happened to coincide with the tale of 'Alice in Wonderland'. Not only that, I somehow managed to stumble upon a character that fit the new personality's curious nature, and thus the name 'Alice' was given to her as it fit all the criteria needed. If you have any other queries about 'Alice' feel free to PM me or leave it in a review!**

**As usual, those who can get a specific reference get a plush shark. (Which is actually very ironic)**


	15. Chapter 15- Cat's out of the bag

**Hello all and welcome back! To those that it still applies to, Happy Halloween! Not expecting such an early update were you? Well it's my present to all of you great readers who were forced to wait so long for the previous ones. I can't promise the next one will be this early as well, so I hope you can bear with it until I finally get some time off.**

**Also, Reviews!**

**Cherokee2391:** You'll see whether or not she does eventually. Thanks!

**ChromeWolfXZ:** Yeah that was a reference I put in there, nice catch.

**fistfight (Guest): **Yes that was a reference, you'll see if she does later.

**Cloy552:** Thank you, I try my hardest.

**FleetwoodPink2Zeppelin:** Interesting point, after all Jaune always looks at the silver lining 50% of the time.

**TehUnoman:** That made me laugh. Especially so since Ruby wouldn't believe her.

**New Universe Returns:** Well here you go.

**RyoTheSaiyan:** Ok fair enough. You'll see if that hunch is right. Jaune's luck is so good that it's bad. That part actually wasn't a reference, it was just a point of character development/slight badassery on Jaune's part.

**CursedPheonix (Guest):** Yes that was a Detective Conan reference, and I was trying to use a little bit of Sherlock Holmes observational fighting in Jaune's style. It wasn't a DBZA Frieza reference, though it was pretty reminiscent of it.

**CrazyTrollR49:** … I definitely believe you, 100%... Totally.

**GhostRipperD31H:** Thank you for the very helpful breakdown of what you thought about the chapter, I will use this as much as I can to further develop my story writing skills.  
About your question, you will see eventually whether or not Weiss remembers. Though nice pick-up on that Alice thing.

**DarkElucidator:** Hehe, good job catching the reference. If you couldn't tell, the Weiss Reacts series is used quite a bit in my fiction because I think it's just that great. Though keep an eye out for other well-known FanFiction references.

**NinjaFang:** Thank you.

**Thorson (Guest): **Thanks for the praise!

**commandosquirrel:** Sure.

**Benthino:** Thank you and nice pun!

**gammabeta99: **Thank you and Jaune managed to get out of the situation with his life intact, good for him.

**Namenya (Guest):** It was a reference to the Weiss Reacts series by ElfCollaborator.

**Lord Corvo Attano:** Neo would never let Roman harm Jaune, but she can't stop what she doesn't see.

**dracohalo117: **Hopefully this chapter lives up to your expectations.

**thehidden6lade: **Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy this that much. Worm suit saves the day! Hm… Depends, what food?  
OF COURSE I WAS AND STILL AM AND ALWAYS WILL BE HYPED FOR RWBY! XD  
Does that answer it?

**DarkDevilKnight:** Well, hopefully you survive this next chapter then.

**duskrider:** Who knows, you may be more right than you think…

**daniel8472:** I'm glad I managed to portray Jaune's emotions that well. You'll see eventually what I have planned for her and any other future events.

**And that is all! So without further ado, onto the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own RWBY or any other franchises mentioned. They all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 15- Cat's out of the bag

Blake froze as their combined teams fell into the room. "I- uh…" She mumbled, horrified that her secret was out. Jaune mentally frowned as he gauged the Faunus' reaction. She began to sweat more noticeably, her eyes were wide to irregular proportions, her hands were quivering and her legs were shaking rather prominently. _Though maybe they're just all the more noticeable because they're just so fiiiin- not helping._ The blond writer put on a smile, he got her into this mess so he might as well get her out.  
"Hey guys, what's up?" He asked them nonchalantly.

"Blake's a Faunus?" They all screamed in unison. They also somehow managed to unconsciously lower their voices so that no one outside of the room would hear them. Jaune laughed as he waved the notion off.

"Of course not. We were just role playing what we thought the latest Jane Caur novel would be like. Rumour has it, it's going to include Faunus, Fauni, Faunuses, Faunus', Fau- you get the point." He subtly winked at Blake, "Besides, even if Blake _was_ a Faunus would that change anything?" The young writer watched as his friends adorned unsure looks though Nora seemed pretty excited about the concept, "And if she was, wouldn't she tell you guys? We _are_ friends after all." The Faunus girl winced as the blond knight directed a sharp look at her out of the corner of his eye.

Weiss narrowed her eyes dangerously at her black haired teammate. Ruby smiled trustingly, "Alrighty then! Sorry for interrupting your moment. Teams RWY and NPR out!" She cheered happily as she and Nora led the teams outside.

Yang pouted at her partner as she walked out the door, "I can't believe you two talked about Jane Caur novels without me!" She wailed, her trust broken.

Jaune shrugged, "You should've _book_ed an appointment." Blake resisted the urge to slap him. _I swear if that pun was on purpose…_ She turned to see how her partner had reacted, but was surprised to see she was gone. "Alright, I won't ask you to spill your deepest darkest secrets, why you've lied to them or why you're continuing to lie to them. In turn I'd like for you to answer just one thing, and do me a favour or three." The hidden Faunus gulped. It was Jaune so he wouldn't ask of anything perverted… right? Then again, he does read Jane Caur's novels… Her eyes widened slightly as she remembered that there were some people who have weird ideas about Faunus and their animal-esque appendages.

Jaune flinched as Blake covered her lady parts and glared daggers at him. He raised his hands unthreateningly, "Do you really think that badly of me?"

"…"

"Ouch, sorry I asked. Don't worry, I'll keep this short. First of all, the question. Will you keeping this a secret harm my team or any of our friends in any way? And that includes you." He asked with all the seriousness he could muster. It was a very important question to him. The introvert's eyes widened, not expecting such a question. Especially since it pertained to her safety as well.

Her gaze slowly sank, "I… I cannot assure my own safety, but I sure as dust won't put any of you into danger." The young student smiled warmly at the resolution within her tone, she wasn't lying.

He sighed in relief. "That is good to know. I'd like to keep a favour in reserve if that's fine with you, so I have two requests." The bookworm nodded slowly, accepting the terms and gesturing for him to continue. "Well, I still need you to teach me about Faunus, insert plural here, so that will be my first request." Jaune blushed slightly, "And, um, as for my, uh, second… I- uh, know that it isn't proper but, I really wanted to um, y'know…" Blake looked at the boy warily as he began to stutter. Was he going to-? "I just wanted to ask if I could… um, touch them?"

"Touch… them?" She repeated cautiously, her arms subconsciously crossed around her chest in defence.

Jaune nodded embarrassedly, not noticing the motion, "Sorry it's just, I've wanted to touch them since I saw you, 'cause they, uh, seemed like they'd feel soft. I-it doesn't have to be a touch, you don't have to if you don't want to-" He tried to correct himself.

Blake sighed in reluctant acceptance, "It's the least I could do since you decided to keep my secret a, well, secret. First however, could I ask something from you?" She waited until he nodded in response to continue, "How long have you known I was a Faunus?"

The knight's brow raised, "From the moment I first saw you on the tree." He answered truthfully.

"… I see." So her disguise didn't even work… "Well then, if it's you I don't mind." If the disguise couldn't even fool _Jaune_ of all people, whose to say that everyone else didn't know already? Slowly and reluctantly, the girl removed the bow that concealed her secret and dropped her hands, hoping the knight would be quick and gentle.

"Wait- That was a bow?" Shouted the hunter in training in surprise. _This whole time, she was wearing a bow?_ The black haired girl blinked once, then twice, then three times. So, it wasn't that Jaune was perceptive enough to realise she was hiding her ears… it was that he was dense enough to not realise it was a bow in the first place?

"I hate you so much..." She whispered to herself as she stared at the ground. The idea of someone not realising she was wearing a bow was so dimwitted, it was so dense and illogical it was, it was... so Jaune-like. However, this didn't change her current predicament. She had just accepted his request to touch her... maybe she couldn't go through with it after all? The Faunus girl shook her head and braced herself for the contact.

Blake flinched backwards slightly as she felt his hand softly caress her... ears? Wait what? She looked up to see that the dense writer was rubbing her ears slowly, his eyes filled with awe. "Whoa, they're just as soft as Velvet's!" He exclaimed in amazement.

"It feels just as nice as I thought it would." He mumbled to himself as he began to massage them.

"What's wrong? A-am I being too rough? Blake?" The blond boy looked down to see that she had small tears in her eyes and was glaring at him in a rather cute manner.

"Right after I mustered up the courage to let you touch them because I owed you that much, you actually meant..." Jaune tilted his head to the side, _actually meant?_ What else could he have been talking about? "Jaune you... you... dunce!" She cried irritatedly. Before she could hit him out of frustration, however, Yang burst into the room. Behind her sat a blushing Pyrrha, Weiss and Ruby.

"I can't believe you two were role playing without me again!" Whined the busty blond as she tackled her partner.

Jaune stared blankly at the faces of the three girls on the floor. "You have a lot of explaining to do..."

* * *

-Earlier-

* * *

Weiss glared at the door the two teams had just exited from. "I still think those two are hiding something." She frowned as she heard whispers

"Are you saying we should spy on Jaune and Blake?... Again?" Asked Ruby, _this is the third time we've done this_. The second time hadn't gone so well. The first during the 'date' ended up as a misunderstanding so she wouldn't be surprised if that was still the case here.

Yang shrugged, "Well I have nothing better to do."

Ren sighed at the females, sometimes he pitied his leader. "Well, Nora and I have to be going. Nora's Sleeping Sloth Inn doesn't run itself." Nora grinned as she grabbed a bucket of maple syrup from... somewhere.

"Let's go play with- I mean, take care of the sloths!" She cheered happily, dragging Ren away.

Weiss stared blankly at the two leaving figures. "I... can never tell what is ever happening when that girl is around." Yang nodded in agreement. "Wait, where's Pyrrha?" The three girls stared at the blushing girl with her head glued to the door. "What are yo-"

"Shhh!" Snapped the champion angrily.

"Did you just shush me-"

"Shhh!" Snapped the buxom boxer as her head was also pressed against the door. Weiss frowned, what could be happening that would warrant someone to silence her?

Slowly pressing her head against the door, she was surprised with what she heard. The heiress could barely hear their voices, but what she could hear definitely sounded like acting. Yang grinned, "Wow, so they really were trying to roleplay a possible scene." She whispered in surprise. "And by the sounds of it, it seems pretty saucy."

Weiss listened harder, "I cannot assure my own safety, but I sure as dust won't put any of you into danger." Spoke Blake softly. Huh, so they were actually roleplayig after all. The scenario didn't sound half bad either.

"I just wanted to ask if I could... touch them?" Queried Jaune hesitantly. Weiss smiled, _what?_ "-they, uh, seemed like they'd feel soft." The heiress blushed, just what was that dunce asking?

"-if it's you I don't mind." And Blake was just going with it? Roleplay or not, that was taking it a bit far wasn't it?

"Whoa, they're just as soft as Velvet's!" The girls stayed silent as they listened. He's done it with Velvet too? "It feels just as nice as I thought it would." The four girls continued to not speak a word as they payed closer attention to what the knight was saying. "What's wrong? A-am I being too rough? Blake?" It was at this point Yang couldn't take it, she enjoyed to read Jane Caur books as well! Unfortunately for everyone involved not even the combined strength of Weiss, Ruby and Pyrrha could hold back the party girl as she burst into the room.

"I can't believe you two were role playing without me again!"

* * *

"And that's what happened." Stated Ruby, finishing her recap of events. Blake stared at the ground in embarrassment as Jaune rubbed his temples.

"Well, like you said, it was role playing, though we were never going to go that far." Blake nodded slowly as she rubbed her bow. One moment she wasn't wearing it, the next she was. Was that the 'fast-changing' trick Jaune had learnt after having lived around eight women? It was honestly pretty impressive.  
"If that is all, I'd appreciate it if you five could leave now. Yes that includes you too Blake. I really feel like a rest is in order. Blake, you can just keep role playing with Yang or something, I'm sure she'll be able to play along without any fuss."

Ruby looked uncertainly between her fellow leader and the door, "A-are you sure?" The young knight smiled reassuringly at the Rose.  
"I'll be fine Ruby."

After all of his friends left the room Jaune turned to the skeleton in his closet and laughed dryly whilst walked into the bathroom. He stared blankly at the mirror. "And if she was, wouldn't she tell you guys? We are friends after all?" He laughed coldly at the irony. "Practice what you preach." He mumbled with a look of disdain towards the hypocrite behind the mirror, after all the psyching up he did he still didn't manage to reveal his status as a writer.

* * *

Ren frowned to himself as he thought back to the distasteful look his leader had been wearing for the past few days. Jaune hadn't been himself for a while now and it worried him, it apparently isn't another Cardin situation as, according to Jaune, he has been working to reconcile himself and has even told his teammates off for bullying another. The former bully had taken a complete 180 after that trip to Forever Fall.

The young man quietly pondered over the issue surrounding his teammate as he studied over the notes he had taken in class. The knight had been acting rather strangely since that incident with Blake and while he wanted to believe in his only male friend, he still felt as if the black haired bookworm was using him to help hide something from them. Was it blackmail? Or was he just overthinking things?

The boy shook his head and turned the page, as long as it doesn't endanger his team and Nora it should be fine. Although that girl has been rather closed around anyone other than her team or Jaune, he could tell she wouldn't try to harm someone if she could avoid it. He smiled, hopefully his instincts were right. He'd hate to have to fight someone that got along so well with his only male friend.

"Boop." Greeted his childhood friend happily as she swung down from the ceiling and poked his nose. He smirked at her exuberant behaviour. From all the time he's known Nora, he's learnt not to question how or why she does things. She was just an exception to the laws of the universe, capable of defying the laws of physics or any science in general. For all she cared, 1+1= Sloth.

"Watcha doin'?" Asked the Valkyrie as she swung on her heels casually. The student in green stretched,

He smiled politely at the orange haired girl as he lowered his arms, "Just revising over some notes. Just because we don't have any classes this week doesn't mean we can slack off." The girl pouted at him.

Nora grinned and grabbed his hand tightly. "Renny that way of thinking is boring! Come and help me run the Sloth Maid Cafe!" The silent boy smiled knowingly and let his childhood friend carry him off on one of her random adventures. He smiled softly at her childlike expression of happiness as she dragged him out of the library. Yes, as long as Blake's secret wouldn't harm his precious childhood friend, he wouldn't pry.

* * *

Pyrrha sighed as she tossed and turned uncomfortably in her bed, lately she hadn't seen much of her leader other than during classes, during their training or when he finally came back to sleep in their dorm. The red haired champion slowly rested her gaze on the sleeping figure of her leader and partner. She, being the type of person who pays close attention to someone's mannerisms, noticed that he had been acting rather downcast recently. It was incredibly apparent that he was torn over a subject ever since the date he had with that stranger in Vale.

The young knight had been pacing around, sitting around thinking all day and had visited the library multiple times in one day. Pyrrha's eyes widened as she came to a sudden realisation. Jaune was sad because the girl he went on a date with never contacted him back! The young champion smiled, if her leader was feeling down the only thing to do would be to cheer him up, right?

Jaune shivered in his sleep as he felt a feeling of foreboding run down his spine. The oblivious writer quickly pulled his blanket further up, completely unaware of the scheming happening behind him.

_It will take a while to set up, but it will be foolproof!_ The red haired girl smiled warmly at her partner. He'd already done so much for her, this would be the right way to pay him back.

* * *

Weiss smiled brightly as she and the rest of Team RWBY walked down the festive streets of Vale. Stopping under a large "Welcome to Vale" banner, she spoke, "The Vytal Festival! Oh this is absolutely wonderful." She exclaimed happily. The other three girls gave the heiress a strange look. _Dear dust..._

"I-Is Weiss smiling?" Spoke Ruby to herself, taking a step back in fear. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much." Yang laughed nervously,

"Sis, I think you mean you've never seen her smile, period." Blake nodded, it was weirding her out.

The White haired girl scoffed, somehow managing to not break her smile, "How could you not smile?" She asked incredulously, "A festival dedicated to the-"

Ruby yawned loudly, clearly not interested in Weiss' dronings. "And we had to wake up this early why?"

"As if we don't wake up this early on a regular basis thanks to you and your sister's antics." Shot the young woman. _Touché_ thought the rose "Besides, the amount of planning that goes into an event such as this is astronomical and I want to observe it."

Yang rolled her eyes, "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring princess." The girl glared at the busty blond,

"Quiet you, and it's heiress!"

As they rounded the corner the boxer sighed, "Why are we spending our free time visiting the docks? We've been given an entire free week without classes because of the arriving students so we should use it wisely." Ruby nodded,

"They smell like fish." She complained. Blake glared at her, what's wrong with fish?

Weiss sighed and gave the two a pointed look, "I heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship here today. And as a representative of Beacon I want to-"

"Spy on them so you can have the upper hand?" Finished Blake.  
"Take their cookies so their morale will drop?" Finished Ruby helpfully.  
Yang grinned, "Ask them out?"

The heiress blushed, "P-please, as if I'd fall for anyone from Vacuo so easily."

"Wow." Muttered Ruby as her attention was taken to the side. Weiss smiled, following her partner's gaze to the fair several blocks away

She nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that's a very nice Ferris Wheel." The young reaper shook her head,

"No I mean there." She explained, gesturing towards a destroyed dust shop. Curiously, the four students approached the crime scene in hopes of some clarification. "What happened here?" Queried the girl in the red hood.

"Robbery, second dust shop to be hit this week." Grunted the detective to his partner. Yang's eyes widened,

"Hey Blake, do you think they know Conan? Yo! Detective dudes do you know Conan!?" The black haired girl facepalmed at her partner's antics. She was attracting attention from how loud she was.

The man ignored her and walked away, "Tch, this place is turning into a jungle." The other man nodded as he inspected the scene, both hands on his suspenders.

"They left all the money again." He commented. Ruby tilted her head, why did that ring bells?

The pair of detectives sighed, "Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much dust?" Asked the first detective rhetorically.

"I dunno, an army?" Ruby stared at the second man, he kind of reminded her of Doctor Oobleck. Except with less coffee, darker hair and a twinge of Ozpin.

The detective rolled his gun around in thought, "You uh, thinkin' of the White Fang?" The Oobleck-esque man shrugged.

Weiss scoffed, "The White Fang, what an awful bunch of degenerates." She spat.

Blake glared at her, "What is your problem?" The heiress blinked,

"My problem?" Snapped the girl, "I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Ruby melted adorably,

"G-Guys? Don't figh-"

The introvert's glare hardened, "The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're just a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Blake? Weiss? Please sto-"

The white haired girl gave an incredulous look to her teammate. "Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"Please?"

"So then they're VERY misguided! Either way it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop I the middle of downtown Vale." Yang nodded,

"Blakey's got a point princess. The police also never caught the guy Ruby fought right sis?" The young reaper brought her fist to her palm, so that's what was giving her a sense of déjà vu.

Weiss growled, "well that doesn't change the fact that the White fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal." Blake's fists clenched as the heiress continued to belittle them.

"That's not true-" before she could deny Weiss' declaration a man shouted from the direction of the docks. Ruby stared at the area, apparently a boat had docked while they were busy.

"Hey! Stop that Faunus! He lied to us, cheated in our game of cards and stole my bananas!" The members of Team RWBY rushed to the scene to find a blond Faunus running from two men.

"Thanks for the ride guys!" Grinned the boy as he leapt off, pulling off an aileron roll as he made his way to the docks. He smirked as he stuck the landing thanks to his instincts, "Nailed it."

"Give me back my bananas!" Cried one of the two men pathetically.

The Faunus scoffed and hung on a lamp by his tail, "I won these bananas fair and square!" He exclaimed, eating a banana in a surprisingly familiar way to Blake.

"Hey, get down from there!" Cried one of the detectives. He growled as the boy threw a peel at his face. The blond boy laughed maniacally as he ran off, avoiding the two detectives by jumping over them from the lamp.

As he ran up the stairs and passed by Blake he winked, "'Sup Sis." He greeted casually before dashing off. Ruby blinked and waddled closer to the black haired girl, checking to make sure Weiss wouldn't notice.

"Sis? Are you two related?" The girl shook her head, she had never seen him before.

Yang smirked, "Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition and there it goes." The girl gasped in realisation.

"Quick we must observe him! And maybe get back that guys bananas." Exclaimed the heiress. Ruby nodded,

"Alright Team RWBY! Time for operation 'capture the banana'!" Yang cheered as the four ran after the boy.

* * *

The group of four tailed the monkey Faunus until Weiss turned a corner straight into a pole, knocking her over. The heiress blinked, did the pole just fall? She shook her head, that didn't matter now because the boy was still running. "No he got away!" She cried annoyed.

She turned around to see Yang giving her a strange look, "Uh... Weiss?" She titled her head curiously as the busty blond pointed to the pole underneath her. The white haired girl blinked, the pole turned into a girl!

"Salutations!" Greeted the pole. The heiress jumped backwards in surprise, the pole talked! Ruby gave the pole girl a look,

"Um, hello?" She responded, "A-are you okay?" The pole girl nodded despite still being on the floor.

"I am wonderful. Thank you for asking." Replied the girl in a strange tone, still not moving from her spot.

Yang looked at the strange woman in concern, "Do you wanna get up at any point in time?" She asked curiously. Ruby nodded, this girl was weird.

The pole girl seemed to process the question for a brief moment before she responded. "Yes." She stated simply before jumping to her feet in a single swift motion. The members of Team RWBY gave her collective looks as they simultaneously took an instinctive step backwards. "My name is Penny." Spoke the girl after a second of silence. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The Rose smiled politely at the woman before her, "Hi Penny, I'm Ruby." Greeted the young reaper.

"I'm Weiss." This girl's chest could be used as an ironing board, she thought to herself.

"Blake." Stated the introvert smoothly, Yang scratched her head.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head when Princess knocked you over?" Blake smacked the girl, even she could tell that would be too rude to say. "Oh, sorry. Do, you, feel, any, head, trauma?" Asked the brawler slowly. The bookworm facepalmed.

Weiss smiled in a refined manner, bowing courtly as she did so. "I'm sorry about my... 'friend's' behaviour. And I apologise for knocking you over." Yang grinned,

"Since when was I your friend Princess?" Asked the blond boxer, the amused grin irritating the heiress to no end. The White haired girl ignored her in favour of the strange pole before her.

"Once again, sorry for running into you." Continued Weiss as the group began to walk off, Ruby waved goodbye to the pole girl, hoping she'd never run into an awkward situation with her again.

"Take care friend!"

Yang sighed in relief once they were out of earshot, "Well that was... a thing. I think that girl had a few screws loo-" the four girls came to a stop as Penny was stood right before them. Weiss stared incredulously at the girl who had apparently teleported from her previous spot.

"You were, then we, but you, how but what?" Blubbered the White haired girl as she tried to make sense of the pole girl's actions.

Ruby smiled slightly, "Uh, Penny for your thoughts?" Yang grinned. _That's my sister_.

"What did you call me?" Asked the girl as she walked closer to the group. The busty boxer flinched,

"Oh I'm sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me." Apologised the young student. Blake raised a brow, how did that make it any better?

The strange girl shook her head, "No not you." She said, walking past Yang. "You." She clarified, staring directly at Ruby. The adorable reaper stuttered,

"M-me? I-I don't know what I, um, I Uh.-"

"You called me friend!" Exclaimed the pole girl. "Am I really your friend?" The leader of Team RWBY turned to them for help. All three of them began to shake their heads and mime out not to do it.

"Yeah sure, why not?" The other three sighed, _she's doomed_ they all thought in unison.

Penny cheered happily, "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes and talk about cute boys!" Ruby winced at the déjà vu she was getting from this girl.

"Aw, was this what it was like when you met me?" She asked to Weiss, realisation evident in her tone.

The heiress shook her head. "No, she seems far more coordinated." The Rose drooped slightly, well that did wonders for her self-confidence and friend making skills. Dear dust, what if Jaune thought the same thing when they first met?

As the youngest of Team RWBY stewed in her own embarrassment the other four females stood in awkward silence for a good few minutes before Yang finally decided to strike up a conversation. "So... what are you doing in Vale?" She asked, half curious and half sick of the silence.

Penny smiled, "I'm here to participate in the Vytal Tournament." Weiss gave the pole girl a disbelieving look as she crossed her arms.

"You're fighting in the tournament?" Penny nodded affirmatively,

"I am combat ready!"

The tsundere uncrossed her arms. "Wait, if you're here for the tournament does that mean you know that monkey tailed... rapscallion?" Penny looked at her curiously,

"The who?"

"The filthy Faunus who stole the bananas from that boat back there." Elaborated the heiress as she pulled out a rudimentary drawn picture from... Somewhere. Ruby blinked, when did she have time to draw that?

Blake glared at her angrily, "Why do you keep saying that?" The group gave her a confused look. "Stop calling him a rapscallion, stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!" Weiss stared at her teammate for a second, unable to believe the things she was saying.

Ruby moved to stop the fight but was pushed back by their collective frustration. "G-guys?"

"Oh I'm sorry, would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan? Or the bananas the he STOLE as bananas?" The introvert growled angrily,

"Please stop fighting..."

"Stop it!" She exclaimed in her rage.

The heiress frowned, "Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time, he'll probably join the other Faunus in the White fang."

"W-we're a team."

Blake's hands clenched in anger, "You ignorant little brat!" She cried, storming off.

"P-please?"

Weiss glared at the girl, "How dare you talk to me like that. I am your teammate!"

Yang sighed as she placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder to refrain her from interrupting, "This is going to be a long day."

* * *

Jaune walked through Vale slowly, taking in the scenery as he strolled aimlessly. He smiled slightly, it's nice to take a walk every now and again I guess. He felt bad for avoiding team RWBY for the past few days but he was sure they didn't even notice. He sighed sadly as he let his feet take him where they wanted, it wasn't like he was going to avoid them forever. He just needed a bit of time to transition back to regular Weiss. In the back of his mind he knew he was reacting a bit over the top but his heart couldn't lie. In the few days he had talked to Alice she had become a precious friend of his.

He stared unblinkingly forwards, almost smiling from how stupid he was. He had somehow unconsciously made his way to the fair near the docks. He could almost feel the tears surge back up. "Jaune? What are you doing here?" Queried a familiar voice. He turned to see Velvet and Coco.

"I could say the same thing." He smiled politely at the two, "What brings you two to the fair?" Velvet blushed,

"Well, we had a break from missions so Coco recommended we go here." The knight nodded slowly, eyes slightly unfocused as he stared at the Ferris wheel in thought. The fashionista frowned at the boy,

"What's up? Did something happen between you and that girl you went out with?" The bunny Faunus blushed further, he went on a date with someone?

Jaune smiled solemnly, "I guess you could say that." The coffee lover raised a brow. She had a small amount of respect for the boy after the whole one-upping her at that fashion shop, so to see him in this state was rather shocking.

"That's a shame." She spoke loud enough for him to hear, "She seemed really into you during the date." The blond writer blinked,

"Wait, how do you know that?" He asked curiously, "We're you also trailing me?" Coco laughed,

"So you noticed them huh?" Coco smirked and grabbed a hold of Velvet who had been steaming off to the side, "How about you try out Velv next? I'm sure you won't be disappointed." The brunette pouted embarrassedly.

"Coco!" Her leader laughed teasingly,

Jaune smirked along with her, "Tempting offer." He stroked his chin in 'thought' "I might take you up on that." Velvet blushed, was he serious?

"Get back here you no good stowaway!" Cried a detective as he ran after a blond monkey Faunus.

The boy glared back at the man, dropping a banana peel in their direction. "How many times do I have to tell you? They let me on!" He cried angrily. "Hey, bunny lady help me!" He shouted towards Velvet as they drew closer.

"I, uh, um, h-help? B- Coco help!" The fashionista smirked and stuck out a leg, causing the detectives after the Faunus to fall over.

"I am _so _sorry!" She apologised, "I didn't realise you were there, are you two alright?" The detective swore as he watched the monkey boy run out of viewing distance.

"We lost him." He muttered to his partner. Choosing to ignore the young woman that tripped them over, the two left to go investigate the robbed dust shop again.

Coco smirked as she turned to Jaune, "So about that date with Velv- Huh? Where'd he go?" Velvet blushed and playfully glared at her leader.

"The monkey Faunus grabbed him as he ran off, but more importantly Coco. You were actually serious about getting Jaune to date me?" The girl took a step back,

"W-well I mean, I see the looks you shoot him sometimes so I thought-" She was unable to finish her sentence as the girl ran off in embarrassment. "Velv wait!"

Meanwhile Jaune was currently in the midst of being kidnapped, "Hey put me down!" He cried, "This is emasculating in so many ways!" The monkey Faunus shook his head,

"I need a hostage in case they catch up to me!" He shouted back. The blond knight glared at him,

"They stopped following you several blocks back!" The blond monkey boy stopped in his tracks. _Huh, so they have…_ "Now could you put me down!" The boy laughed,

"Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting the bunny girl to actually help me." Jaune sighed and stated it was fine. "Question, have you seen a really hot cat Faunus around? I got a question or two to ask her." The blond student tapped his chin in thought, _it couldn't be… right?_

"By chance, did this girl have black hair, cute amber eyes, black and white clothes and slender legs?" The boy's eyes widened insurprise,

"Yeah that was her! She a friend of yours?" Jaune nodded, "Well could you help me find her?" He held out a hand, "The name's Sun, you?" The writer's eyes widened before accepting the hand with a grin,

"Jaune."

* * *

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Exclaimed Weiss. Yang groaned as she and Ruby watched the two debate back and forth like a tennis match. _I can't believe they have been arguing for the entire day!_

Blake glared at her, "That _is_ the problem!"

The heiress scoffed, "You realise you're defending an organisation that hates humanity don't you?" The introvert winced, "The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

Blake stood up in anger, "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like _you_ that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures. You're discriminatory!" Weiss suddenly stood up, rage clear on her face,

"I'm a victim!" The two sisters of the team's eyes widened, "You want to know _why_ I despise the White Fang, _why_ I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" Blake watched cautiously as the white haired heiress slowly walked to the windowsill. "It's because they've at war with my family for years." Yang frowned, "War, as in actual bloodshed. My Grandfather's company has had a target painted across it's back for as long as I can remember, and ever since I was a child I watched family members disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of dust… stolen." Blake winced, a guilty expression passing her face for the slightest of seconds. "And every day my father would come home furious, and that made for a _very_ difficult childhood." Ruby walked up to her partner slowly.

"Weiss." She mumbled, placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

The heiress smiled at her, even if it was miniscule. "Thanks." She turned to the black haired beauty, "You wanna know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves and murderers!" Blake growled at the woman angrily.

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" She roared furiously. It took the looks her teammates gave her to see that she had made a mistake in her anger. _And right after Jaune chose to keep it a secret for me_… "I-I…" Before anyone could comment the discovered Faunus ran out of the door in a hurry.

"Blake, wait come back!" Cried Ruby as she tried to run after her. Weiss stared at the open door angrily.

Yang looked at the door with a thoughtful expression, "Wait, so Jaune and Blake _weren't_ roleplaying before?"

Blake ran as far as her feet could take her. Unfortunately in her muddled state of mind her feet were only able to take her to the front garden area. She stared at the statue all the students had passed on their first day, feeling a slight understanding of the Grimm below the two hunters. The bookworm slowly made her hands to her bow, unravelling it to show her secret to the world.  
"Hey! Jaune told me you'd be here." Shouted a voice from behind. "Wait, that was a bow-? I mean, I knew you'd look better without the bow… hehe."

* * *

Ruby sighed sadly as the remnants of Team RWBY walked down the streets of Vale. "She's been gone the entire weekend." She mumbled sadly. Weiss rolled her eyes,

"Blake's a big girl, she can handle herself." Yang shot her a look,

"Weiss come on, she's one of our teammates."

The heiress sighed, "I know that, but we all heard what she said. She's been keeping this important information from us the entire time we've known her! For all we know, that might not be all she was hiding."

The young rose walking ahead of the two mumbled sadly, "I just hope she's okay…"

Blake drank a cup of white hot chocolate as Sun sat before her, already finished with his cup. She took a deep breath, ignoring his bored look as he swirled his cup around with his tail. To be honest it made her jealous how open he and Velvet were about their Faunus heritage. "So… You want to know more about me?"

Sun exhaled loudly, "Finally she talks! I was a bit worried you were mute for a while. I mean, we've been sitting here _all weekend_ and you haven't said a word to me yet Sis."

The cat Faunus frowned at the blond boy, "That reminds me, why did you call me 'Sis' when you ran by?" Sun grinned at her,

"Well mainly because you have Jaune's scent on you, so I thought he claimed you already. In fact, all of your team had it on them. Well shoot he's been getting around since I last saw him." He laughed before looking to the side, "That luck son of a- needs to teach me his ways." He muttered to himself.

Blake blinked, "How do you know Jaune?" She queried. _Wait, didn't he say-_ she gasped in sudden realisation. This Faunus boy was-

"I was Jaune's best friend as a kid."

* * *

**So another few days pass in the world of Remnant and the silent beauty Blake has found the identity of Jaune's childhood friend. How will she take this information and will she make up with Weiss in the end? Will Jaune find out the truth about Roman and Neo? After all that's changed, things won't always end the same for Jaune and Blake.**

**So that was a thing. First of all I'd just like to point out Sun and Jaune's reaction to Blake wearing a bow. Mine was exactly the same. I honestly thought they were cat ears the **_**entire **_**time stupidly enough, so imagine my surprise when it turned out it was actually a bow **_**concealing **_**her ears.**

**Well, as always, those who can guess the specific reference will get a banana for Sun.**

* * *

_~Omake~_

* * *

Jaune yawned as he and the group walked into Nora's House of Horrors. The Valkyrie had turned her restaurant into a themed attraction for the special holiday that all Valeans love. "Halloween!" Cried Ruby happily as she skipped past everyone, an empty bucket in her hands to hold the candy. She was currently adorned in a black and white fluffy costume that was very reminiscent of Zwei. Weiss stared unblinkingly at the adorable reaper turned dog.

"I still think we should have all gone as pokemon." Complained the brawler. Jaune laughed,

"Your costumes are fine. At least you don't have to dress in, well, a dress." True to his word the blond knight was wearing an outfit his sisters had sent him from home. Not wanting to upset them he was 'forced' to wear a blue dress and armour. He still had Crocea Mors strapped to his side and wore a blond wig the length of his back. Because of his new appearance the girls had affectionately dubbed him 'Jane' much to his dismay.

His partner turned away to conceal her blush. "I think you look rather dashing as a woman." Jaune sighed at the compliment. He knew it was supposed to make him feel good but it was the equivalent of saying, 'You look beautiful' to a guy. It was just plain weird. The knight just smiled politely. Currently the champion was adorned in a vampire costume that left a lot of men with open jaws.

"Where's Nora and Ren?" Queried Weiss. The heiress was wearing an icy blue queen's outfit that was supplied to her by Yang. The only thing keeping her from tearing it off, other than the public embarrassment, was Ruby's Halloween spirit that had become rather infectious the closer it got to Halloween. Now that it was finally the day she had been waiting for, there was no way anyone would say no.

Jaune shrugged. "No idea. By the way, nice costume Blake." The cat Faunus growled at him.

"Yang is so dead." She mumbled to herself as she occasionally shot glares at the busty boxer. The introvert was wearing a rather revealing dress, but that wasn't what was annoying her. In front of their very eyes was a cat Faunus, wearing fake ears and a tail.

"It looks so great on you Blakey~ I'm jealous." grinned the blond girl.

The bookworm shot her a look, "then why aren't you dressed up as something?" She growled embarrassedly.

"I am." Claimed Yang proudly. The girl's eye twitched.

"You're just wearing what you usually wear!" She yelled out incredulously.

Yang's grinned widened, "Exactly, I'm dressed as myself!" The group gave her a single look before carrying on to Nora's establishment. The girl huffed, "No one appreciates me, isn't that right VamPyrrha?" Pyrrha sighed at her friend's pun, so that's why she told me to wear this. Jaune chuckled,

"Heh, VamPyrrha, that's good." The buxom boxer smirked and wrapped her arms around his own causing the knight to blush heavily at the contact. "Y-Yang?"

"You've got a great sense of humour Vomit Boy." Complimented the young woman as she pressed her assets closer to him. Jaune gulped audibly as he tried to look elsewhere. Key word tried. "How about we partner for the haunted house?" Pyrrha glared at the blond. _Yang is so dead_.

The knight paled, "There's a haunted house?"

Ruby cheered, "Yep! It's gonna be fun!" The boy sighed, this was not going to be fun.

"So who else is coming?" He asked in a defeated tone, hopefully not too many people would see him in a dress.

The young reaper dog tapped her chin in thought. "Well there's Neptune and Sun, and Emerald's team." Jaune blinked and asked who Emerald was. "Oh right, she's one of the students from Haven. Since we both have gems as our names I thought we should get along!"

"Hey look it's Sun." Commented Yang as the two approached the entrance to Nora's establishment. Weiss quickly looked up to see if Neptune was with him. To the group's amusement Neptune was definitely with him.

Jaune almost fell over laughing. "Di-Did you seriously dress up as a planet?" He managed to spit out in between his laughs. The blue haired man glared at him.

"Says the one in a dress, and it was a good idea at the time!" He cried defensively.

Yang grinned cheekily, "Really? Did you and Sun, Plan-et?" Neptune groaned,

"I'm out." Exclaimed the student, entering the building to get away from the girl's puns. Weiss quickly followed him giddily. Sun laughed as he walked up to Jaune, the two bumping fists as they exchanged greetings.

"Lookin' good Jane." The monkey Faunus winked. Jaune rolled his eyes,

He smirked at his fellow blond. "Sun Goku huh?" Sun grinned,

"You know it. So where's the rest of your team?" The writer pointed at the giant haunted house behind the boy. "Huh... So we headin' in there?" The blond knight nodded affirmative. "Alright, sounds like a plan. C'mon ladies let's move!" Jaune's eye twitched, he'd better not have been included in that.

As the group of six entered the house thunder roared. Jaune yelped girlishly and jumped into Sun's arms. "Dude, I know you look like a girl and all but I'm not into that type of stuff." Commented the monkey Faunus with a deadpan. The knight blushed,

"Shut it."

From the top of a balcony above the group came a familiar voice. "Welcome one and all to my house of horrors! We still have one more group to arrive so please wait there." The six students looked up to see Nora in a sloth costume sitting on the shoulders of Ren.

"Hey guys." Greeted the boy in green. Jaune blinked was he dressed as a leprechaun?

From behind Blake Yang smirked, "Hey look, it's a LepRenchaun!" The hunters in training just stared blankly at the busty blond while the knight laughed.

Before anyone could comment on the two's horrible sense of humour the doors opened. "Welcome one and all to my house of horrors! With you guys here that makes all of us! Please proceed to the dining hall after you're done with greetings." The two childhood friends then walked out of the room, "Did I do good Renny?" Asked the girl when she thought she was out of earshot.

"Hey Emerald!" Cheered Ruby, "Is this your team?" The green haired girl nodded.

"Yep! This is Mercury." The group stared at the boy blankly. "He's dressed as a planet." _We noticed_, thought Jaune sarcastically.

The boy grimaced, "This is the last time I'm letting you choose our clothes Neo." He grumbled silently. The woman to his left smirked.

The mature looking woman to his left smirked. "I beg to differ. I think this outfit is quite suiting, it even comes with a weapon." Mercury rolled his eyes, says the one wearing a Dominatrix outfit complete with whip. The black haired woman turned to Jaune, "Why hello, my name's Cinder. _Very_ nice to meet you." Said the girl sensually as she held out her hand to him.

The boy blushed heavily, did she realise he wasn't a girl or was this woman into that kind of thing? "I-I'm a guy." He stuttered out meekly.

"I know." Before she could press her attack a short black haired woman pushed her away from him. The writer stared at the girl,

"Do I know you? You look familiar?" The girl shook her head and hid behind Cinder.

Emerald looked apologetically at him, "Sorry, she's shy." Jaune gave an apology back.

"No I'm sorry, she just reminded me of a friend of mine." He explained. The black haired girl moved to Emerald and appeared to whisper in her ear.

"She wants to know what made them look similar." The knight scratched his head in thought.

"Well, you're both pretty short." The girl glared at him, "But I guess the main similarity was that you're both really cute, but don't tell her that or she'll kill me." Mercury smirked at the icecream girl's flush,

"What's her name?" He asked curiously, with a hint of mischief riddled in his voice.

Jaune smiled at the boy. "Her name's Neo." The black haired girl blushed further. Mercury, Cinder and Emerald all subtly turned to the girl and gave her a look, blackmail written all over their faces. "I hope to be just as good a friend with you then." He extended his hand to the girl in a friendly manner. The black haired girl pretended to be too shy to accept his hand to avoid him reading her mind.

Pyrrha gave the team a look, "Well it's nice meeting you, but we should get going. C'mon _partner_." Smiled the champion as she grasped the blond's hand firmly. She led him into the dining hall, giving the girls behind her a triumphant smirk.

Sun raised a brow? "What was that all about?" He turned to see many of the girls looking annoyed. "... Something I should know about?" Yang laughed nervously, gulping audibly as she pulled on her shirt collar.

"Well, it started off yesterday as a harmless trip to the cafeteria. Then some things led to another and now the first person to kiss Jaune wins all the lien everyone bet." She finished with a hesitant chuckle.

Sun deadpanned, "And who is a part of this?"

Yang grinned sheepishly, "Everyone in the house?" The monkey Faunus sighed, this was not going to end well he could feel it in his tail.

* * *

Jaune stared in awe at the dining hall. It was easily three times the size of their dorm room and held a large amount of food and beverages, enough to feed the entirety of Beacon and possibly the sloth army she keeps secret from everyone except their team.

He sat down and began to dig in next to one of the new people. "So, Emerald was it? What are you dressed as?" He asked curiously as he stared at her clothing, unsure what she was trying to be.

The thief rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I'm a tree." Jaune blinked.

"... A, tree?"

Emerald nodded, "Yep. She was the one who came up with the idea." She said as she pointed at the black haired girl who just shyly waved at the two.

"Huh, I wouldn't have thought she'd have it in her."

The tree girl smirked. "You'd be surprised at what she's truly capable of." Jaune nodded slowly, it was the same case with Neo. One would believe she was absolutely harmless with her adorable look and parasol. Next thing you know she's holding said parasol to your neck with eyes constantly changing colours like she thought of it as a game. Not that he was speaking from first hand experience.

"So... What are you?" The cross dressing knight shrugged,

"My sisters picked it out for me, they said it was someone called 'Saber' or something like that.

Before Emerald could push the conversation further Nora spoke up. "Alrighty then, time for the event! You will go in groups of threes to find a hidden treasure within this house! When one team encounters another you must fight it out with these Halloween themed weapons until your team leader, who is the first person named in your team, is knocked out. The first ones to find the treasure or the last ones standing win!"

It was Ren's turn to speak, he spoke monotonously as he read from the card Nora handed him. "According to Nora, Team one is, and I quote, "Ruby, Sun and the tree." You three will be leaving from that door and will have these three weapons." The group turned to see a Grimm reaper's scythe, a large bone the length of a person and a tree branch.  
"Team two is comprised of Weiss, Neptune and you silver guy!" Exclaimed the boy. He pointed towards he exit and weapons they'd be using. Jaune stared blankly at the 'weapons'. A pumpkin, a mace made of gravestones and a leaf. A _leaf_.  
"Team three is scary dominatrix lady, Blake and Pyrrha." The group stared at the weapons, a skeleton spine whip, a tuna half the size of a person and a bottle of pumpkin spice. Jaune frowned, that wasn't even fair to them!

"Hey, a tuna isn't Halloween the-" Blake cut Weiss off and glared at her,

"I' . ." She stressed out each word to get her point across. The heiress gulped and nodded.

"Moving on, lastly, team four is the midget, Yang and Jaune." Neo grew a tick mark at being called a midget, barely restraining herself from killing the two hosts. Jaune stared at the weapons they'd be given. A candy sword, candy gauntlets and a lollypop. This was going to be a thing.  
"Now, most of the weapons are just made of foam so you don't need to hold back. You can begin in three, two, one!" The four groups broke off into the exits they were assigned to.

Nora tilted her head and placed her finger on her lip, "Wait, they were supposed to be foam?"

"... Oh dust."

* * *

Jaune stared at the lollypop in his hand. He understood why Yang got the candy gauntlets, but why did the new girl get the sword? It was almost as big as her. When he motioned to grab it all she did was flick his finger and grab it for herself.

Suddenly the hidden loudspeaker in the hallway crackled to life. "Team three has been eliminated. Blake ate her weapon, Pyrrha was disarmed and Dominitrix lady is currently whipping the people outside."

The female dressed knight deadpanned, "... That was fast." He commented,

"Well when there are only four teams with incredibly useless weapons this was to be expected." Replied Yang. The other girl nodded in agreement. Neo sighed silently, she missed being able to directly talk to her cute little author.

"Team two has been eliminated. Weiss and Neptune snuck off on a date and Mercury was knocked out of the house by a tree branch." Jaune sighed, well this was becoming extremely anticlimactic. Though how did Mercury get knocked _out_ of the house with a tree branch? _Don't tell me Emerald hit him that hard?_

"There you are Jaune!" Shouted Ruby as her team approached them. _This house is a lot smaller than I gave it credit for_. Jaune blinked, Ruby was holding the bone while Sun had the scythe.

"Wouldn't it make more sense for Ruby, the girl who has been trained in using a scythe, to use the scythe?" The girl shook her head.

"Nuh uh. I'm a dog right now, so the bone makes sense!" Cried the dog reaper in an attempt to explain her logic. Jaune facepalmed.

Yang grinned as she readied her weapons, "Sorry sis, but I'm not going to hold ba-" she was silenced mid-sentence as Neo 'accidentally' knocked her out with the sword. She smiled sheepishly and bonked her head as if saying 'Whoops'. _Now to grab Jaune and __elope!_

When she turned to grab Jaune and run she realised he had already been taken away by Ruby. 'Why that speedy, fluffy piece of-'

Ruby sneezed, "Alrighty, I got their leader so we win!" Jaune coughed,

"Actually the other girl was our leader..." He mumbled meekly. The rose stared at him before bonking her head in a similar fashion to Neo.

"... Whoops. Oh well, I can at least win the bet now." The knight blinked. _A bet? Since when was there a bet?_ And why did it involve being near him? "J-just, hold your eyes and close still, I mean close your eyes and hold still." Why would he need to-? "Please? I need to get myself ready." Jaune stared at her puppy eyes, it wasn't helping she was dressed like an actual puppy. Normally he'd be immune but the dog outfit was hard to say no to. He sighed and closed his eyes, it's not like anything bad could come of it right? It's Ruby, the adorkable child-like leader.

"Ruby run! The crazy black haired chick uppercutted Emerald into the roof and is headed this wa-aaaaaay!" Sun was interrupted mid sentence as Neo flying jump kicked him in the back, sending him hurtling down the hallway. "Waaatch Ouuuut!" He cried as he tried to stop to no avail. Ruby quickly dived out of the way and was relieved to have somehow escaped uninjured. After checking herself for injuries she turned to see how Jaune had fared.

"Jaune you oka-" the Rose stared blankly at the two boys, on the floor, lips touching. She blushed heavily at the sight, _t-two guys k-k-k- I mean Jaune is dressed like a girl so..._

"Gah, Sun what are you doing!" Cried Jaune as he pushed the monkey Faunus off, wiping his tongue with his dress.

"What am I doing? What are you doing? I told you I don't swing that way!" Yelled Sun as he tried to remove the taste of cross dressing Jaune from his mouth with a banana.

The three flinched as a flash of light filled their eyes. As if by magic Nora popped into existence. "It looks like Team four wins the treasure while Sun wins the bet!" _Sun won a bet? Wait, didn't Ruby mention something about a bet? But Sun won after he- does that mean Ruby was about to?_

Jaune fainted. Ruby giggled, "Well, this Halloween was just as fun as I hoped it would be." She smiled, satisfied.

"Happy Halloween everyone!"

* * *

**In case you couldn't tell, this is completely unrelated to Canon and never happened.  
See you next chapter!**


	16. Chapter 16- Game of Cat and Mouse

**I'm back! Did you miss me? I hope you guys haven't been waiting too long, I've been having some internet issues and was unable to update for five days. Long story short, the chapter refused to upload onto the website. On another note, you guys really liked Alice those two chapters back. Like, **_**really**_** liked her. Seriously the amount of tears that have apparently been shed has told me you all want her back. All I can say is wait and see what will happen, I wouldn't just insert something in for two chapters… would I? Honestly not much more to say than that so I hope you all enjoy the chapter and Follow, Favourite and Review if you did!**

**Onto the reviews!**

**Fuzzyjacket:** rawr

**gammabeta99: **I had hoped that would bring some laughs!

**SolarCorona:** Geez, sorry. I'd like to say something but that would spoil the surprise. All I can say is keep your eye out.

**StygianSloth:** You're welcome, glad to hear it.

**Cloy552:** I know, I hope she gets more screentime.

**dracohalo117: **Thank you, happy to know you enjoyed it.

**Benthino:** Haha, more or less yeah.

**NinjaFang1331:** Thank you.

**Guest (Guest):** Okay, glad to know you found it initially interesting and a relaxing read.

**Thehidden6lade:** Thank you. Funnily enough, I had pizza the day I read your review.

**The Spookiest of Noodles:** I dunno, a lot of humour is going to come from the few moments of Iceberg around Jaune.

**DarkElucidator:** Sorry to hear you missed the reference, but hey, maybe you'll get this one.

**SMxABULM:** Thank you.

**Uchiha Rai:** Thanks I tried to make it so.

**Gamer AlchemistZ: **Thanks for the praise! I wont say who is and who isn't in the harem, I'll leave that to your imagination. However, I will say that I won't ship Blake with Sun.

**Just me (Guest):** Wow, thanks! I'm glad I was able to pull of a writer Jaune so well, but there are a lot of JaunexHarem fics out there so I can't say mine is the best yet.

**Dareth:** Thank you, I try to work on the errors and flow but I still need more experience.

**Warlox:** Thank you!

**JNPinch (Guest):** Wow, glad to see I'm not the only one.

**Sentinel of Silence:** Don't worry the SunxJaune thing is only for laughs. Adorable Blake being adorable is always adorable and I enjoy NeoxJaune as well, so that may come into play eventually.

**ShadowDriver:** Wow really? I'm actually surprised you caught on to that last part though, not many people noticed that and several were asking if Weiss knew so… congratulations on being perceptive.

**tsun:** Don't worry Neo will come eventually. There's no way she'd leave her cute little author alone for too long.

**Stepnoski98 (Guest): **You'll have to wait to find out!

**OBSERVER01:** Glad to see you enjoy my story. I've said to another reviewer previously that Adam is a wild card so it will be a bit until he is featured in the story. Don't worry, more Neo will be coming.

**Dutoc:** Thanks! Hope you keep enjoying it!

**And that is all! I'd just like to say I really appreciate all of the support and reviews all you great readers have given me and I hope you continue to as we move along. Without further ado, bring on the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any other franchises featured in the fanfic, they all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 16- A Game of Cat and Mouse

It took Blake several seconds to allow the information to sink in as she stared blankly in thought, mildly surprised by the sudden revelation. _So that's why he ate the banana like Jaune does_, she mused to herself. If she was being completely honest it wasn't too much of a surprise, but it still came out of the left field for the young introvert. She shook her head, now was not the time.  
"So… you were saying?" Started Sun suddenly, the girl opposite of him had _just_ started to speak and now she was staying silent and shooting him looks again. The cat Faunus paused her thoughts and cleared her throat.

"Right. Have you ever heard of the White Fang?" Sun rolled his eyes at her, what kind of question is that?

The boy laughed, "Who do you take me for? There isn't a single Faunus on the planet who _hasn't_ heard of 'em." He kicked back and rested his shoes on the tabletop, much to Blake's annoyance. "They're a group of 'Holier than thou' creeps with a messed up sense of justice. If you ask me, I think they're a bunch of-" The bookworm calmly put down her cup of white hot chocolate as Sun answered. In the back of her mind she still couldn't believe Jaune got her hooked on this.

"I was once a member of the White Fang." She stated simply. A small smirk formed on her face when Sun fell out of his chair in surprise, nearly choking on his drink as he did so.

The boy coughed the liquid out of his lungs before finishing his sentence. "-really okay guys who are probably not as bad as people portray them as… right?" Not receiving a noticeable response from the stoic girl he continued, "S-so what was a girl like you doing as a member of the White Fang?"

Blake sighed, "Well, I've been a member for most of my life actually." Sun's eyes widened, _wait 'till Jaune hears about this_. "You could almost say I was born into it."

"Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war the White Fang was… the humans and the Faunus… the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and… rose up as a voice of our people. And I was there, I was at the front of every… actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist."

Sun sat 'wrapped' with the story, finding it incredibly 'interesting'. Who was he kidding? No offence to the girl before him but he didn't exactly come to learn about history. It wasn't that he found what she was saying boring, he just thought it was really… depressing.

"So I left. I decided I no longer wished to use my skills to aid in their violence and instead would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am, a former criminal hiding in plain view. All with the help of a little black bow."

The blond Faunus nodded slowly as if on autopilot, staring expressionlessly behind the girl. "Alright… so, have you told any of your friends about this? Specifically Jaune?" He asked robotically. The black haired girl looked sadly down, biting her lip in a guilty manner.

She turned to him pointedly, "No, and you mustn't mention it to them either unless I tell them first or I tell you to." Sun hastily glanced between her and the figure behind her,

"So that means I can tell Jaune that now right?" Blake shook her head, understanding his plight.

The girl gave him an apologetic look, "I know he's your childhood friend and all, but unless he heard it from me you cannot-"

A nervous chuckle came from behind the introvert, "H-hey Blake… long time no see?" Greeted a certain blond knight awkwardly from behind her.

Sun grinned at his childhood friend, Blake had –indirectly- just told him herself about her past so he was all clear. "Dude, you won't believe what Blake just told me!" Jaune facepalmed.

* * *

Ruby sighed for the fifth time that day as they continued their search for their missing teammate. "Blaaaaaake!" She cried out for what felt like was the thousandth time. She was beginning to lose hope. To her left her sister called out in a similar fashion, equally concerned for their teammate if not more considering she was her partner. Weiss just walked alongside them silently, her head filled with thoughts that a certain blond knight placed in her head. Ruby turned to the heiress with a rare frown on her face, "Weiss, you're not helping!" The white haired girl shook her thoughts away.

"I'm… sorry, Ruby. I was just… contemplating something." She mumbled quietly. Yang adorned an intrigued expression, sending a curious look to her younger sister for answers. The rose merely shrugged in response, having no idea what was going on in Weiss' mind. The busty boxer frowned,

"What do you mean you don't know? She's _your_ partner." Ruby just shrugged again. The blond student sighed, there was just no telling what was in Princess' head was there? "So… any ideas where we can look next?" She asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

The youngest of the three shook her head, "I think we've looked practically everywhere for her." She stated, a defeated look marring her normally ebullient nature.

Weiss nodded in agreement, "I think for once the dunce is right. We've searched high and low through Vale and haven't seen hide nor hair of her."

Penny smiled brightly, "Well I think Weiss' hair looks exceptionally sensational today." The three girls jumped in surprise, not expecting the awkward girl to be there.

"Gah it's the pole!- I mean, hi Penny." Greeted the young heiress politely, adding a small curtsy to emphasise her civility. Ruby gave her newest friend a look,

"Penny, how long have you been there?" The socially awkward girl continued to smile at the three.

"I've been here since the 967th yell of 'Blaaaaaake'." The members of Team RWBY, sans Blake, just stared blankly at the girl. "Since eight minutes ago." The rose blinked, _huh, so that might have actually been the thousandth call for Blake. Go figure. Wait, how did she know it was-?_ "What are you all doing?"

"We're looking for our friend Blake." Explained Yang in hopes that the socially inept girl had seen her, "Have you seen her anywhere recently?"

Penny gave a look of understanding, bopping her hand on her palm like she had seen so many people do on the internet. "Oh I get it. You're playing what people call 'Hide and go seek' with the Faunus girl!" The girls faceplanted in utter disbelief at the pole girl's misunderstanding.

Ruby frowned and narrowed her eyes skeptically as something within her new friend's statement finally clicked. "Wait, how did you know she was a Faunus?" The orange haired girl gave the three students a confused stare,

"The cat ears." She explained, gesturing to her head.

Yang gave her an incredulous look, "What cat ears? She wears a bo… oh." She trailed off upon the realisation of the truth.

Penny frowned, "That was a bow?" She mumbled silently to herself. Her train of thought derailed as a tumbleweed blew past them. "Ooh? Is that a Salsola Tragus? What is it doing so far from the wilderness?" She queried excitedly, watching with bated breath while it rolled out of view. "Simply sensational."

Ruby placed a hand to her chin in thought, ignoring the strange girl's obsession with tumbleweed. "That does explain why she likes tuna so much."

"So… how long has this game of 'Hide and go seek' gone for?" Questioned the orange haired girl. Yang sighed,

"She's been missing since this Friday." Penny gasped in surprise. The blond smiled, maybe now she had finally understood the situation.

Her hopes were shattered once she cried "She is a _really_ good hide and seeker!" The remainder of Team RWBY facepalmed. "Well don't you worry Ruby my friend, I won't rest until we find your teammate!"

"Th-that's really nice of you Penny but we're fine. Right guys?" The rose turned to find her teammates missing. "…" She stood in shocked silence at the two missing girls, unable to believe they had just done that.

Penny's eyes widened considerably as the wind changed direction and brought the tumbleweed back. "Ooh you're back! Hold up friend! I must observe how you've gotten this far away from your habitat!" Ruby watched with a look of astonishment as her friend ran off after the tumbleweed.

"Hey wait, Penny don't leave me by myself!"

* * *

Sun yawned as he placed his hands behind his head, sitting on a seat in front of a girl who wouldn't do anything but shoot looks every now and again was surprisingly tiring. "So what's the plan?" He asked, lazily rubbing his eye with his tail. Jaune nodded from beside him, he too was curious as to what Blake's plan of action was.

The introvert gave a skeptic glare at the blond knight, "Well I still think the White Fang hasn't taken part in these robberies, but I don't have proof." The two blonds nodded, "And how did you even find me Jaune?" The young writer brought up his hands, slightly threatened by her untrusting stare.

"Hey I didn't find you on purpose. You guys just happened to be at the café I frequent regularly. Y'know the one I took you to when we went to get that book of yours." Blake blushed, she just _had_ to choose that place because of their delicious white hot chocolate didn't she? The black haired beauty frowned, not that the two childhood friends noticed, why did she feel disappointed?

She shook her head. "Anyway, the White Fang have never needed this much dust before." It's not like they could use it or sell it for lien. Shops already sold it for a decent price so there was never a need to look for cheaper options.

Sun's eyes widened in realisation, "What if they did?" He asked suddenly, "The only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place _they_ would most likely go to if they were to do it, and then not find them there doing it… right?" Blake gave him a stupefied look, not understanding a single word he said.

Jaune in the meantime stared at his childhood friend with a surprised expression. He grinned, "Sun you genius!" The male Faunus glared at him,

"Hey! I am not a- wait did you say genius or pe-" The black haired bookworm interrupted him with a blush.

"What in Remnant did he say Jaune?" She asked, annoyed by how laid back the two were. Sure they hadn't talked since they were children, Sun had left without a goodbye and Jaune finally got another chance to talk to the one friend his sister's didn't chase away with their overprotectiveness, but this was a serious matter. _Why is it when I put it that way I sound _really_ inconsiderate?_

The blond writer smiled at Sun's ingenuity, "Basically, we should be able to find out if the White Fang are not stealing dust if we just go find the place where they would steal it if they were going to steal it and see that instead of them stealing it, they are not there and are not stealing the dust." Explained Jaune. Blake nodded and placed a hand to her chin in contemplation, slightly surprised by Sun's idea.

"The problem is, we don't know where that would be." The blond Faunus gave the girl a look of disbelief.

He held up a hand, "Hold on, how did you understand _that_ but not what I said?" The introvert shrugged. Sun sighed dejectedly, "Alright, well we could always check the docks." Blake tilted her head slightly to the left.

"Why the docks?"

"Well, while I was smashing that guy in chess I overheard one of them say that there was a huge shipment of dust coming in. Like a huge, _big_ Schnee company freighter." The girl frowned,

"Are you sure?"

Jaune nodded for his friend, "When I was taking a walk through the city a couple days ago I heard the same thing." The bookworm nodded, trusting in the two blonds.

* * *

Yang smiled appreciatively at the shop owner as she and Weiss exited the establishment, making sure to give her thanks. Upon shutting the door she gave a small glare to the silent girl who hadn't spoken a word the entire search. "Alright Princess spill, what's wrong?" The heiress' head perked up upon being mentioned but didn't answer, "You've been silent the whole time, do you really not care if we find her?" The white haired student shook her head.

"It's not like that, of course I do." Spoke the girl softly. "I just… it's complicated." Yang raised a brow but didn't comment. _Must be hard being a princess_. "Let's just go find her so we can stop with this incessant searching."

The heiress sighed audibly as she thought back to the conversation with a certain blond knight.

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

Jaune stood in surprise as Weiss opened the door to the JNPR room. The boy quickly ducked as Nora took advantage of his surprise to score an ace in their table tennis game, the ball flying over his head and nailing Ren on his. "Woohoo! And the queen's reign is undefeated!" The girl sang as she bounced around.

The visitor shook her head, "I'm not even going to ask how you got a table tennis table." Grumbled the girl, "I'm here for Jaune." The blond's eyes widened as he gave her a hesitant smile.

"What's up Snow Angel?" He asked her curiously, "I'm not in any trouble am I?" Weiss ignored the miniscule breaks in his voice as he addressed her.

"I want you to make good on one of your promises." She stated simply, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the room. Jaune flinched, apparently she wouldn't take no for an answer.

The blond boy flashed her a smile midway to the library, "So… what's up?" He asked awkwardly. An unnoticeable look of hurt flashed across her eyes as she noticed his change in nature around her. It was barely noticeable, but it was there. The small breaks in his voice, his hesitance to touch or even look at her and the sad looks he'd shoot at her occasionally when he thought she wasn't looking all pointed to something obvious, but now was not the time for that. The two took a seat in the lesser-ventured section of the library. Jaune smiled nervously, hopefully he'd be able to survive this intact… maybe. "So how did your team's short stories go? My team and Velvet managed to barely manage to get it in in time." The look on her face reflected her thought process, _oh dust we completely forgot._ She sighed, they finished but the whole thing with Blake distracted them long enough to make them miss the deadline. Jaune decided to let the subject go, seeing the look of disappointment on Ali- _Weiss's_ face.

After a few minutes of silence the girl finally spoke. "Remember a while ago when you said you're always ears if I need them? Well as much as I hate to admit, I need some… advice." The knight frowned, _what could she possibly have to_\- _don't tell me she found out that Blake was a-?  
_"Blake's a Faunus." She admitted, Jaune gasped. How did Blake's secret get released? Weiss nodded understandingly, "I know it's hard to believe but it's the truth." She watched as the person opposite of her took a moment to take in the information.

"So what exactly is the problem?" He asked curiously, hoping to get some form of backstory. Unfortunately it was apparently the wrong thing to ask as she gave him an incredulous look.

"What's the problem? _What's the problem?_" She cried, "Not only has a Faunus been living _right_ under my nose for the past few months, a person who I thought was my teammate- my _friend_\- has apparently been lying to me since I first talked to her!" Jaune staggered backwards, surprised by the amount of rage the heiress was currently emanating.

He held up his hands defensively, "Alright Snow Angel it was just a question. I mean, at least she told you now right?"

The white haired girl shook her head, "That's also part of the problem, she didn't. Well she did, but not in the way you'd think." The novice knight tilted his head curiously, not understanding what she had meant. "She said it indirectly, in the midst of a heated argument." Jaune sighed, that made a lot more sense. There was no way Blake would spill her secret any other way.

"So… what now?" Weiss gave him a confused look. Jaune scratched his head, "I mean, what are you trying to tell me?"

She glared at him indignantly, "What am I-? I'm saying that Blake is a _Faunus_! She's been one the entire time and she hasn't told us. She even said she was in the White Fang!" The young writer's eyes widened, _Ok that's new_. He shook his head and sighed, Weiss just wasn't grasping what he was trying to say.

"Ok, so Blake's a Faunus. What does that change?" The girl scoffed at the easy question but found herself silent. "You said it yourself, Blake has been a Faunus the _entire_ time you've been friends. As in, nothing changed. All that's different is you now _know_ she's a Faunus." Weiss stared speechless. "Sure she didn't tell you until now and you can yell about that all you want, but I'm sure she has her reasons. Just like how you have your own reasons for hating the White Fang."

The young heiress growled, "Well, she's still a part of the White Fang!" She cried, Jaune had to stop himself from thinking about how much she sounded like on of his younger sisters trying to win an argument.

"And did you hear her part of the story?"

"…" Her fists clenched, "Jaune, the innocent never run!"

He shook his head, "They do if they're in fear of persecution from the guilty or those in power, and considering how you're acting right now it was a good thing she did." Weiss flinched as if she had been struck. "_Yes_, she's a Faunus, _yes_, she lied to you, _yes_, she ran away, but _stop and think_ Weiss. Just because she's a Faunus doesn't mean she's a bad guy. I mean, you have seen Velvet right? She could've whooped Cardin's ass to Atlas and back but didn't because that's just who she is."  
"Sure Blake lied to you, but who doesn't? You've definitely told a big lie or two yourself, and tell me this. Look me in the eye, and tell me you still would have been her friend if you had known right from the get-go that she was a Faunus. Tell me that you would've been able to look past your prejudices and tried to see things from her side." The heiress stayed silent, staring at the floor as if trying to find something to rebut with.  
"Okay, Blake ran away. I'll bite and agree with you that the innocent never run. However, the persecuted _do_. I don't know what the situation was like after she accidentally dropped that bomb on you all but I can assure you, if it was done after a heated argument the atmosphere was definitely not welcoming." Weiss glared at him weakly, she had come here because she thought he would advise her on what to do, not scold her like a five year old.  
"Weiss just… talk to her. Get her _proper _side of the story and you'll see, she's still your friend and teammate even if she is a Faunus. I know that _I_ don't care." With his spiel done he walked off, needing to go have a rest and maybe some cold water. _That's twice now I've revealed my innermost thoughts and feelings to her huh?_ He mused to himself tiredly.

Meanwhile Weiss was having an inward war with herself, almost literally. '_I told you he wasn't like that'_, said a voice in a matter-of-fact tone. Weiss glared,  
"Silence you, I'm not in the mood."

* * *

_End Flashback_

* * *

Penny tilted her head as she and Ruby walked down the street in search for her Faunus teammate. "So, Blake is your friend?" she queried.

The rose rolled her eyes, "Yes Penny."

"And you're mad at her?" Ruby shook her head,

"No Penny, she just- Blake might not be who we thought she was." The awkward girl still couldn't understand what her friend was trying to say.

She gasped dramatically, "Is she a man?" The young reaper facepalmed, shaking her head as she did so.

"No Penny, that's not what I meant by that." Blake definitely wasn't a guy with a bust size that big… The small girl adorned a jealous expression. _Not to self, drink more milk after we find Blake_. "We- I, don't know what she is. Blake wasn't exactly in the most talkative of moods when she ran off. Then again she's almost never in a talkative mood."

The pole girl's exuberant behaviour calmed slightly, "I don't have very many friends. That's why I would like for the ones I do have to talk to me about stuff." Ruby gave her friend a small thankful smile.

"Me too Penny. Me too." Muttered the red haired girl as she began to walk again. "Y'know Penny, maybe you're smarter than I gave you credit for."

The orange haired girl smiled appreciatively, a proud grin on her face. "Why thank you friend Ruby! I may not look like it, but I can be pretty-" her entire expression visibly lit up as the tumbleweed passed the two once more. "Hello again friend!" She greeted. The tumbleweed, being a plant with no face or limbs, gave no visible sign of acknowledging her greeting and continued to roll down the street. "Hold up friend! I'd like to ask you some questions!" Cried the strange girl once the wind picked up, increasing the plant's pace.

Ruby sighed, "I take that back."

* * *

Blake stared unblinkingly at the yard full of Schnee Company shipping crates from a warehouse a few hundred meters away. Having Faunus vision at night really helped the stakeout. She frowned at the containers, they no doubt held a large amount of dust. Fortunately or unfortunately, the two blonds were right after all.

Jaune shivered as he looked at the pitch-black yard. Why Blake had chosen such a far away place he had no idea. His stomach growled audibly, much to the ire of the cat Faunus to his right. _Where's Sun with the food?_ He sighed, this was turning out to be a lot more boring than he initially thought it would be considering he couldn't see anything. Due to his hunger and boredom it did not occur to him that he could've used his semblance to enhance his eyesight.

"Did ya' miss me?" Joked Sun as he leapt onto the building. The knight's face brightened at the idea of finally getting a bite to eat. Meeting the two Faunus at the café kind of ruined his plans for lunch and it was already really late, the last few airships to Beacon had probably started to get ready to leave in a few hours. "Something happen while I was gone?" Questioned the monkey Faunus as he took a bite from an apple.

The introvert shook her head, "Not yet. They've offloaded all of the crates from the boat but that's all so far."

Sun shrugged, "Cool. Stole you guys some fruit, want some?" The blond writer grinned and held out his hands. "Catch!" Jaune gave a thumbs up in appreciation upon receiving a banana. Blake's ear twitched as she began to blush, something about two males deepthroating bananas on both her sides was unsettling.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" She asked her fellow Faunus in an attempt to get her mind off of the innuendoes forming within her head.

The boy gave her a pointed look, "Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Jaune facepalmed. The female bookworm gave him a harsh glare in retaliation. "Right, too soon."

The three were nearly blown off of the roof as a Bullhead began to 'stealthily' land, generating enough noise to wake the dead but apparently not draw attention. The students stared in surprise at the loud, eye-catching aircraft. _Wasn't this supposed to be a covert mission or something?_ Wondered Jaune, _Anyone within a mile radius would definitely hear the racket this ship is making!_

Jaune squinted his eyes, trying to see if anyone came out of the ship. "What's happening? Is that them?" Screw not being able to see far away. Why didn't he get a semblance of supervision or something?

Blake grimaced at the sight, "Yes. It's them." Said the young ninja. Sun frowned uncharacteristically.

"What's the game plan?" Asked the blond monkey.

The blond knight tried to use his hands as makeshift binoculars, "How can you two see and hea- oh right Faunus senses."

The black haired beauty sighed, ignoring the young writer. "I just… can't believe it." Sun looked comfortingly at her.

"You really believed it wasn't them?" The girl shook her head sadly,

"No, deep down I think I kne-" she was interrupted as a voice began to yell at the grunts down below.

"Hey! What's the holdup?" Blake's eyes widened, a scowl taking over her sad look. "We're not exactly inconspicuous at the moment what with the whole noisy Bullhead notifying the entire neighbourhood. So unless you want all of Vale's security on our assess I suggest you pick up the pace." Berated an orange haired man as he walked off of the Bullhead.

The cat Faunus frowned, "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human." Jaune blinked,

"Wait, what's happening? I can't see from here! What are they saying?" He paused but received no answer. "Blake?" He asked once more.

"Dude, she's already jumped off to go confront the human bossing those grunts around." Replied Sun helpfully, snacking on another banana. The boy grinned as he got up onto the ledge, "You coming?"

* * *

Roman sighed, hopefully he'd be done with this job soon. So long as nothing went wrong he'd be able to make it back to Neo in time for dinner. For whatever reason she was in a happy mood and he wanted to milk it for all it was worth, after all the crazy little she-devil wasn't in such a great mood very often. He loved her like the daughter he never had but dust did she love to be… aggressive when it came to her wants. Namely a knee to the jewels or a parasol to the neck depending on whether she was feeling merciful or not.

Before his thoughts could get any further off track the cold feeling of steel to the neck, fairly reminiscent of Neo's parasol on his jugular, was brought to his attention. "What the-" he looked to see a black haired girl with a similarly coloured bow holding a sword to his neck. The editor rolled his eyes, "Oh for f-"

"Nobody move." Demanded Blake as she tightened her hold on the admittedly fancy criminal. The grunts around the vicinity quickly pointed their weapons at the offender, ready to fight if it came down to it. The girl quickly removed her bow, revealing her secret to the world. "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"

Roman smirked, "I don't think a certain kitty who ran away from home can really talk huh?" He winced as the sword was pressed further into his neck. "Now, now little lady, let's not get too hasty here. If you really must know the White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together."

The young bookworm's glare deepened, "Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

The well dressed criminal smirked as the wind began to pick up around the area. "I wouldn't exactly call it little." He commented casually, several Bullheads flying in from overhead. Before Blake's attention was taken off of the flying airships he quickly shot a blast from Melodic Cudgel at her feet, launching her backwards in a flashy explosion.

From atop the warehouse Jaune's eyes widened upon seeing the flash. "Sun what happened?" The monkey Faunus frowned as he downed another banana.

"It's not looking good, that human guy did something to cause an explosion while Blake was trying to hold him hostage." He answered. He looked worriedly at his childhood friend, it had been a while since he had seen the blond writer so concerned.

"Blake are you okay?" Exclaimed the knight suddenly. Sun resisted the urge to hit himself. What would calling out to her accomplish? All that served to do was alert the enemies of their presence.

Roman's eyes widened considerably as he heard a familiar voice call out. "Oh son of a- this is not good." He grumbled. He took out a scroll an began to dial, "Oi Neo, something came up so I may be a little late for dinner."

"…"

"No, unfortunately this is much worse than being caught by the police. Wait, what do you mean you made my favourite?"

"…?"

The orange haired man rubbed his temples, "Well unfortunately your boyfriend's here." Before he could say any more Neo blinked into existence and hit him in the gut. "Right, not your boyfriend. Got it." He coughed out. "Anyway, get your brother here for a second. I need a disguise and stat, or do you want your 'cute little author' to never want to see us again?" The ice-cream themed lady bit her nails for a moment before quickly grabbing her brother from… somewhere. The girl explained the situation with a couple of hand gestures and a three-minute game of charades. The young trap nodded and clicked his fingers, changing their appearances. Thanking him for the help, Neo brought him back to the house. Roman raised a brow at the multi-coloured girl. "What, are you staying?"

"…!"

"Hey, it's not my fault your future fiancé decided to show u-" a high-heeled boot to the chest interrupted him as it sent him skidding backwards. "Alright, I probably deserved that one."

"…"

"What do you mean don't hurt his friends? I'm going to die! Or get caught!" He cried indignantly.

"…"

Roman groaned as the girl walked off, "Figure it out she says. I swear Neo, one day you are going to-" Once again, a boot to the chest interrupted him as Blake kicked him out of nowhere. "Alright kitty, playtimes over." He rapidly fired four explosive dust shots in quick succession, making sure the girl could easily dodge out of the way while still being forced backwards. Using the clones to escape the black haired girl cursed inwardly as she was pushed back several meters.

"Heads up!" Grinned Sun as he leapt onto her assailant. The fancy robbed blocked the kick with his cane and easily knocked the boy back.

He glared at him, "Enough with the monkey business." As if to spite him Sun threw a banana peel onto his hat. "I just got this hat cleaned." The blond's eyes widened as a dust round knocked him back, sending him tumbling a few meters. From behind Neo glared at him. Roman rolled his eyes, "Butterfingers."

Before Sun could attempt to retaliate several White Fang grunts began to jump out of the Bullhead. "Landing strategies like we practiced!" Cried one of the Faunus. The blond monkey Faunus looked around curiously as a noise that could only be described as a prehistoric bird getting strangled by a steamroller while in mid free-fall filled the air. The sound stopped immediately once a grunt bellyflopped the concrete. The blond winced at the impact, for some reason that Faunus reminded him of one of his teammates.

The grunts began to charge him at once, and in the usual grunt-like fashion attacked him one at a time. Roman groaned, there were twenty of them! Surely at least two of them would attack at the same time! He was unable to outwardly express his pain as a familiar blond knight came down with a vertical slash that was telegraphed from a mile away.

The attack, unsurprisingly enough, was blocked. Jaune frowned as he stared at the blue haired man before him. "Do I know you from somewhere?" Roman's eyes widened briefly.

"O-of course not!" He laughed nervously before loosing a shot from a disguised Melodic Cudgel at the boy's face, launching him into a shipping container. Jaune, not expecting the force behind the blast, watched helplessly as his shield was sent a couple of feet to the left. When he turned to observe his opponent the blond was unnerved to find the criminal grinning wildly, a happy glint in his eyes. It had just clicked in Roman's head, he could now do whatever he wanted to the boy and pass it off as self-defence! Neo would never know a thing! He cackled, "Get ready for the fight of your life boy!"

Jaune gasped as his opponent closed the space between them in a second. The novice knight could barely keep up with Roman's attacks as they became twice as hard at double the pace. The young hunter-in-training's aura was slowly being whittled down, as he was not used to fighting without a shield. Neo glared at her father figure, she couldn't tell if he was actually trying to hit the blond author because the boy was that good at combat, or if he just wanted to get back at Jaune for supposedly winning his 'daughter's' affections. She didn't like him like that, their relationship was _strictly_ professional… absolutely.

The slightly beaten student leaped backwards in an attempt to get some breathing room. Unfortunately that had been what the blue haired dust thief was waiting for. The older man grinned as he began to fire several rounds at the melee-bound hunter. Jaune groaned, rolling out of the blast range at the last second. This was why he should've chosen a long ranged weapon. He quickly turned his gaze to check up on his fellow blond. _Are those gunchucks?_ _That is awesome._

The shield-less knight moved to engage the blue haired criminal once more but was intercepted by what appeared to be his assistant. The girl smiled menacingly at him and got into a fighting stance. He frowned, _no weapon?_ She winked at him, her yellow eyes staring suggestively into his. Jaune blushed before shaking his head animatedly. There was a time and a place for this type of stuff and this was not it. Unfortunately, his teenage hormones begged to differ. The enemy girl appeared directly in front of him with speed that felt as if she had teleported. She grinned childishly and flicked him on the forehead as if she was playing a game and before Jaune could make sense of what she had done the shorter girl delivered a kick that sent him skywards. As he fell comically back to Remnant the woman unrelentingly kicked him over a container and out of sight, forcing him to drop his weapon from the force of the kick.

The blond hacked harshly upon landing, this woman was leagues above that thug he had fought a bit back. It was almost laughable the difference between a common street thug and a full-blown criminal. The knight got up shakily, it was hard to believe it only took two kicks from her to reduce him to this. He grumbled in an irked manner, "And I was just feeling like I had gotten somewhere with training too." As if a light switched had been flicked on the student remembered something that would have come in handy. "Oh yeah, my semblance." Getting into a relaxed stance the hunter in training tried to begin the breathing exercises he used when utilising his semblance over long periods of time. Neo grinned sadistically as she leapt over the container using only the strength of her legs, no aura needed, and delivered an express knee to the face.

Not showing any mercy the disguised icecream went for a flurry of kicks, each hitting their mark as her cute little author was given no time to activate his semblance. The novice swordsman grimaced as he was pushed back, it was almost as if she knew not to give him time to start a comeback. _Is this the power of those with actual years worth of training?_ Jaune gulped audibly as Neo pinned him to the container by the neck using her foot. The girl resisted flashing her eyes with glee, knowing she'd be found out immediately. Instead the surprisingly sadistic publisher showed her amusement by licking her lips and lending him a seductive wink. Jaune was in for a lot of trouble.

While Jaune was being molest- er, _attacked_ by his publisher, Sun was busy dealing with the grunts. He smirked as he sent one of them Roman's way, forcing the man to duck under the unconscious Faunus projectile. This all went according to Sun's plan as he lobbed a banana onto his hat when he wasn't looking, "Three points!" He exclaimed childishly. The fancy robber growled and fired a dust round at the monkey only for it to be blocked by the staff.

"He's mine!" Cried Blake as she jumped out of the containers to full on assault Roman with everything she had. The blue haired criminal frowned, he may actually have to kick it up a notch if the fight became a two on one. The introvert scowled, no matter how many times she attacked in any given direction he blocked it with ease. How was someone as feeble looking as him so good at fighting? And what happened to Roman? When did this blue haired guy replace him?

Roman grinned and began to go on the offensive seeing that the cat Faunus was too caught up in her emotions to hit him. "C'mon kitty, what happened to your claws?" He taunted as he knocked her backwards with several well-placed hits with his cane. Blake growled and attempted to pick herself off the floor, all she knew was this man was just as irritating as the last. Sun hurriedly jumped in to stop the clearly one-sided fight.

With speed and technique that proved he had been using his weapon for years the blond Faunus began to unload and reload whilst swinging at the older man. The sheer speed and momentum paired along with having to deal with the shotgun shells as well began to put the criminal on the ropes as he still had to hold back or Neo would murder him anyway. Fortunately before he could try and push for an advantage Blake came in and knocked him away, effectively stopping the onslaught of attacks for him.

Deciding it would be hard to continue holding back if it was a two on one the criminal took aim at the shipping container above the two. "Heads up!" He cackled as he took out the chains holding the crate up. Sun leapt out of the way without thinking and found himself face to barrel with Melodic Cudgel. The blue haired man's attempt to 'finish off' the blond was cut short as a brown ball nailed him in the face, causing the shot to miss dramatically. Before anyone could comment on what had just happened a loud voice echoed from the rooftop of a warehouse.

"Wait come back! I need to show you to Pubert Spore Haywood! You're both miracles of nature!" Cried Penny, "He managed to get six achievements and you managed to travel 200 miles away from your natural habitat!"

From behind her Ruby panted exhaustedly, a side effect of running after a tumbleweed. "Penny, I don't think a tumbleweed can understand you! And for the sixth time, how does a fungus get achievements? It'd need to plug in the console and pay for the internet and-"

Roman groaned, this was just what he needed. More of Jaune's 'friends'. He sent a round right into the tumbleweed as a form of comeuppance for hitting him in the face. Regrettably, that was where his luck ran out. Ruby watched as he friend began to march forwards, her usual happy demeanour gone in place of a rather angry one. "Penny wait, get back!" The girl shook her head.

"Do not worry friend Ruby, I am combat ready!" The young reaper watched in awe as swords appeared to come out of Penny's back. "Those who harm my friends must be punished." The strange girl hastily leapt off of the building in the general direction of the blue haired man. The criminal rolled his eyes,

"Come _on_ missy, it was _just_ a tumbleweed!" He shouted in an attempt to calm her down. The well dressed criminal watched in mixed amusement and shock as the girl began to manipulate the swords and take out his henchmen one by one. _Why kind of people does Jaune hang around?_ The man resisted the urge to hit himself from the stupidity of the White Fang grunts as they got mowed down like grass. "Did you idiots really believe that charging at her as a group in a straight line would make you a harder target to hit!" he cried exasperated. Today was just not his day.

* * *

Sun whistled impressed with the girl's handiwork. She was making short work of that blue guy's forces. A loud cry for mercy from behind him took his attention off of the one sided fight to a blue shipping container. The monkey Faunus briskly ran behind the crate to find Jaune being harassed by the man's blue haired assistant. The boy cried uncle as the assistant kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling to the floor on his back. He gulped rather audibly as the girl placed her high-heeled foot onto his chest. Bending down and licking her lips while maintaining eye contact further proved to increase his fear, or was it arousal? Maybe a mix of both? The silent girl smirked mischievously at his blushing face. "Meep." Muttered the emotionally confused knight under his breath.

Before she could physically do anything however, Sun knocked her back with a kick. "Alright, fun's over." The blond grinned, he always wanted to do that. Jaune sighed thankfully at his saviour. The two students paused in confusion as the brunette pouted for a brief moment before her expression turned to one of anger, like when you take a child's favourite toy from them. Neo glared daggers at the newcomer, she had been looking forward to teasing him further. Unfortunately for the ice-cream lover and fortunately for the childhood friends she was stopped from acting upon her frustration as the voice of Roman came from above.

"Oi! Get your short ass up here, we gotta go!" He shouted. The blue haired criminal hated to admit it but the strange girl's appearance threw a wrench into his dust-stealing scheme. The brunette bowed politely before the two blonds, sending a death glare Sun's way and a playful wink at Jaune. Her two opponents were forced to cover their eyes as she leapt up and disappeared in a bright flash, reappearing in Roman's Bullhead. "I swear Jaune hangs out with the weirdest people- is that Red?" Neo gave him a strange look as he waved to a girl in a hood.

"…"

Roman rolled his eyes, "Don't give me that look, she's too young for me. Red's that girl who ruined my other robbery a while back." He pinched the bridge of his nose once the girl began to yawn, disinterested already. "Either way, you're lucky he didn't recognise us." Roman frowned as his surrogate daughter's face lit up upon remembering what had happened during the battle, a small tinge of red painting her cheeks.

* * *

As the two flew off Jaune and Sun were still trying to make sense of what had happened to the blue-eyed writer. "So… was she about to-"

The knight shook his head, shooting his childhood friend a glare. "Not a word to _anyone_." He stated simply.

"I'm fine with that but… weren't you wearing clothes on your torso before?" Queried his fellow blond with an amused smirk. True to his word the knight's armour, hoodie and shirt were nowhere to be found. Jaune groaned,

"During the fight she, uh, cut them to pieces. She also cut the straps keeping my armour on, so now I have to get that fixed." Sun resisted the urge to burst out in laughter lest he gets a fist to the face, but he also felt envy for his friend. Why did he get to fight the short temptress while he was stuck taking out the admittedly skilled thief? The blond writer noticed the look his friend gave him and shot another glare, "Not a word."

Upon making it back to the others they saw several police cars parked around the area as Blake, Ruby and the new girl all sat on crates. The two members of Team RWBY blushed upon seeing Jaune's clothing, or lack thereof. Ruby's expression became one of concern, "Jaune! What happened to your-?"

He silenced her by holding up a finger, "I'd rather not talk about it." The cat Faunus next to the rose frowned, if she remembered correctly the blond boy was facing off against that blue haired man's assistant but taking off the armour that protected him wouldn't exactly help, in fact quite the opposite. So what could he possibly have done with that woman that warranted taking off his- the young beauty's train of thought was interrupted as she was sent flying off the crate via a nosebleed.

Sun turned to Jaune, a curious expression on his face, "What's up with her?" He shrugged in response, he had no idea what Blake was thinking sometimes. Their attention was grabbed when a voice came from the right.

"Ruby, are these your friends?" Asked Penny curiously, her voice quieter than normal. The youngest of them frowned slightly, the pole girl was still upset over the 'death' of her tumbleweed friend.

The rose nodded, "This is Jaune, he's a fellow team leader and the first friend I made at Beacon, and that's… I'm sorry, who are you?" The monkey Faunus grinned,

"The name's Sun! I was friends with Jaune when we were kids." He greeted the two, complete with an over-the-top bow. "Who'd would have thought the clumsy blond would become a team leader! Looks like we're rival leaders 'cause you're looking at the leader of Team SSSN (Sun)!." Grinned the blond, affectionately noogying his head.

Jaune shook off Sun's grip after a couple of minutes and made his way to the new girl. "Hi, nice to meet you…?" he trailed off as he held out his hand.

The pole girl smiled, accepting his hand. "Penny. It is simply sensational to meet another of Ruby's friends." Once the two shook hands Jaune's eyes widened by a fraction. As he went to go sit down he couldn't help but stare at his hand. He could've sworn he was getting better at controlling his aura after a couple days of solid training by himself. There was no way she- someone who appeared as old as him, noticed his fluctuation in aura. So why didn't his semblance work against her?

His thoughts were put on hold as the familiar clacking of heels caught his attention. Ruby immediately shot up to confront her partner, "Look Weiss it's not what you think-she explained the whole thing-you see she doesn't actually wear a bow-she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute."

Penny smiled as she waved to the two, "Look, I found your friend Blake! It is now my turn to hide!" She exclaimed childishly. Yang rolled her eyes and motioned for the girl to go ahead.

The heiress chose to ignore the interaction and instead stared at the black haired girl unblinkingly. Blake wiped her nose in panic and was relieved to see there was no blood left. "Weiss. I- I want you to know I am no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with-"

She was muffled as her teammate placed a finger before her mouth. "Stop. Do you have an idea just how long our team has been searching for you?" The black haired beauty stayed silent, "Twelve hours, and during these twelve hours I've had a lot of time-" she spared a glance at the shirtless blond knight, "-and a bit of help, to think about this. You know what I realised?"

Six pairs of eyes stared at her in suspense. "That you aren't as _Weiss_ cold as we all thought?" Asked Yang hopefully. The white haired Snow Angel glared at her teammate. Jaune held back his laughter in hopes to not anger the heiress.

She shook her head at the blond boxer's antics, annoyed but thankful for the lightening of the mood. "I realised that I don't care." Blake took a step back in shock. Of all the things she was expecting, it wasn't this. "You aren't a part of that organisation anymore. So frankly, I don't care." Yellow eyes filled with relief at her statement. "I just want you to do one thing. The next time something of this magnitude comes up don't leave it to someone other than your teammates, your _friends_, to assist you." The introvert smiled softly at her words, wiping a small tear away as she nodded.

Jaune grinned proudly at his Snow Angel, she had done just as well as he'd hoped. "So… anyone up for some pancakes? Foods on me!" Chuckled the novice knight. The group cheered as they began the long trek back to Beacon.

Weiss gave a look to the blond Faunus, "You still haven't given any reason as to why we should trust you." She stated pointedly.

Sun chuckled nervously at her gaze, "Uh, I was friends with Jaune when we were young?" The blue-eyed student turned to the blond writer for confirmation, receiving a positive nod in response.

Ruby frowned, scanning the area as she realised something. "Speaking of friends, has anyone seen Penny?" Asked the black and red haired girl. The girl in question was already a ways away, looking back to the docks sadly. She already missed her friend. The tumbleweed would have made such a sensational match with Pubert the Fungus.

* * *

Ozpin stared cryptically at his scroll. He had known the situation was bad, but he had not expected for it to have reached this point so quickly. There was little time left, he had to work on moving to prevent the oncoming disaster or face the consequences. Placing his scroll down the headmaster watched the clouds outside the school. A storm was heading their way and for once he wasn't sure if he would be able to stop it.

He walked out of the room, cane in one hand and coffee in the other. This was going to be troublesome. As the lights began to dim in the office the illustrious headmaster's scroll flashed, displaying it's previous message.

Qrow

Queen has Pawns. Knight is not enough.

* * *

Roman groaned in annoyance, his disguise long worn off. He really did not want to admit it, he'd honestly rather be on the verge of death than tell him, but he had grown a liking for Jaune and his idiotic tendencies. The criminal _really_ did not want this endeavour to affect him, especially since Neo would kill him if it did.

"I'm disappointed in you Roman." Called a voice from behind him. The criminal jumped in surprise, not expecting _her_ to be here. "We were expecting… more from you."

The orange haired man rolled his eyes, "I thought performance appraisal was next Wednesday?" He chuckled jokingly. The man turned around to see a black haired woman in a seductive red dress, followed by her two assistants. "Right, well what's the big idea creating that competition? You do realise now we actually have to supply people with those stupid prizes?" The woman laughed, whether it was sarcastic, evil habit or actual laughter Roman could never really tell. Though he knew for sure it wasn't the latter.

"I'm just taking a page from your book Roman dear. It just might help out our cause after all." The well-dressed thief stared at her skeptically. "Don't worry, we have big plans for the future. If you're lucky you might even be a part of them. All we ask is a little… cooperation."

The man frowned, "And all _I_ ask is for a _little_ information on what in Remnant we are doing? Maybe a notification on what our next move is? How am I supposed to cooperate if I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing?" Her assistants moved to help _persuade_ him, but the woman held them back with wave of her wrist, moving closer to the master thief as she did so.

"Have a little faith Roman. You will know what you need to know, when you need to know it." Whispered the seductress, trailing her hand across his cheek. The orange haired man winced as she turned up the heat, burning him slightly. "Until then, I'll be _playing_ with your toy knight." She licked her lips, "He seems… interesting."

Roman couldn't help but smirk as the woman left with her lackeys in tow, a small amount of sympathy leaking out for his author. _Have fun dealing with… that_. He thought to himself amusedly. His moment was ruined when he touched his cheek and swore in pain. "Definitely going to need to ice this." He grumbled to himself.

* * *

**And as the curtain falls on the 'Black and White' Arc a sinister plot rises. Will Jaune be ready for when the storm hits? Or will the knight fall victim to the red queen? Now that history is changed, the future is unclear. Will our protagonist find himself in centre stage? Or is he doomed to be a side character to be sacrificed when it comes down to it? Only time, and my list of ideas for this story will tell. See you next time where we find out the results of the mysterious competition.**

**Well, not sure what to say other than: more Neo! The crafty little- er, **_**petite**_** devil has been on the wishlist for plenty of you in the previous chapters and like a good genie, with the ability to tell the future apparently, I provided. Honestly I didn't even have to change anything, she was already planned to be in this chapter.**

**Another thing to go over is two points:**  
**One, yes Jaune is still unaware of Roman and Neo's involvement with the 'bad guys'.**  
**Two, Jaune is aware that thanks to Pyrrha he has gotten better than he was at the start of the year. However, as much as he can take on a street thug who picks on people unfortunate to come across him, he is unable to beat Neo or Roman even while they are holding back. There is still plenty he needs to work on and now he is dreadfully aware of this thanks to his humiliating defeat by Neo, in almost all sense of the word.**

**Well, like always, if you enjoyed please leave a Favourite, Follow and a Review, and those who noticed a specific reference get to choose between a tumbleweed or a fungus with achievements.**


	17. Chapter 17- A Boatload of Trouble

**Hello all! I'm back with another chapter and would just like to give my thanks for all of the support! We've come a long way since the start, so once again thank you all for showing interest in this little story of mine!  
**

**As a side note, being sick is great. You can't move anywhere, you constantly feel hot and cold at the same time. Every five seconds you cough and you **_**really**_** don't feel like doing anything. It's the best!  
Seriously though, being sick sucks.**

**So… anyone remember when I said there wouldn't be more than two weeks between updates? That was fun while it lasted… If you want to blame something for the chapter being late blame my ineptitude and, well, real life. But hey, I should be able to get the next chapter done within a week so look forward to that!  
**

**Well, onto review answering!**

**Mad Library Scientist:** Yes, that was one of my favourite moments in AH history and I'm glad so many people caught on.

**StygianSloth:** Good to see you enjoy!

**Fuzzyjacket:** Good times indeed.

**Dutoc:** Thank you! Jaune is definitely in for some interesting events in the future.

**thehidden6lade:** Haha, good to see you picked up on that.

**NinjaFang1331:** As always, thank you.

**Cloy552:** I had a great time writing that chapter just because of that scene. The fact that people kept asking for more Neo made it even more satisfying.

**Thebluebuffalo:** Haha, glad you liked it, hopefully I can keep earning those '10 STARS' from you! I may take in the suggestion though, you'll have to wait and see.

**Da Etan:** Thank you, I'll try my best. And to be honest it happened to me too on several occasions during editing the chapter.

**RyoTheSaiyan:** Haha, yes that was the reference. Volume 1 is finally over so it's time for a couple of original chapters to help get Jaune up to scratch before Volume 2 begins.

**DarkElucidator:** That was actually really funny, don't worry you'll get some eventually. Though your review does give me some ideas…

**Dracohalo117: **Wow… considering this story is based on humour for the most part I don't think something like that will happen… maybe, but I am happy to see you liked the tumbleweed part!

**DoubleRX:** The fight scenes were fairly brief due to me not wanting to repeat the show too much, you've all already seen most of the scenes so I put most of the detail in the showing their thoughts and explaining the events. Even though Jaune's fight scenes were original they were kept fairly short due to his lack of skill when fighting an excited Neo. Seriously she could beat Yang easily when she was apparently holding back, I'm sure Jaune wouldn't stand a chance against her.

**SMxABULM:** Thank you!

**Uchiha Rai:** Definitely.

**WaitWUT (Guest):** No…? When they landed the first person Jaune saw was Pyrrha.

**OBSERVER01:** You'll see what happens when it happens.

**Master DV:** Sorry you feel that way, but I am grateful that you took the time to point out what made you believe so. I am trying to improve the points you have made, but it might not be very immediate. But hey, as a rookie writer I'm allowed to make mistakes until I get the hang of things right? Anyway, I appreciate you giving me reasons instead of flaming me in all caps. I will take them into consideration as I am writing this. Even though you may not be reading this, thanks! I'm sorry my story wasn't up to scratch, hopefully when I become a better writer you'll critique me again and actually enjoy what I wrote. Good luck in your endeavours to become a serious writer!

**AD Lewis:** Thanks! And Nora technically isn't writing slash fiction as long as Jaune is a girl ;D

**Eogos:** Good to hear you found it interesting. Who knows, you might be right, you might be wrong. All that's certain is you'll have to read to find out.

**Wolfang21:** Tumbleweed was a good, er, tumbleweed. He put up a great fight but was taken down too soon.

**Amvmaster:** Good to know you're enjoying it!

**Pyro daemona:** Sorry it took so long! I'm happy to know you've enjoyed it, and give your friend my thanks for suggesting my fanfic!

**Syntras:** Yes a Sword Art Online Abridged reference just because it's so funny.

**And that is all! Onto the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I'm sure you get the point by now, I don't own RWBY or any other franchises mentioned or hinted at. They all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 17- A boatload of trouble.

Jaune growled in frustration. He sent a powerful kick at the training robot in hopes to release his ire but was instead sent straight to the ground as it took advantage of his imbalanced weight. He gasped as it swept his leg out from under him, causing him to hit the ground hard. The drone seemed to cackle teasingly while it walked back to its designated resting zone as the computer deemed the match over. The knight in training sighed, it was the fourth time in a row he had been taken down by the level two robot. Sure it was by hunter standards but with it being level two out of fifty it was still a rather heavy blow to his pride. If the fight at the docks a few days back -and these level two robots kicking his behind across the arena- taught him anything, it was once someone managed to disarm him he would lose.

These people were nothing like the street thug he had managed to beat. They were not only better than him physically, but that short woman's mental attacks were just as arousing- uh, _devastating_ as her kicks. He had a finite amount of time to train for the Vytal Festival and recently he had come to learn time and again that there were too many things he needed to work on to become a decent hunter-in-training. That strange mailman had shown him he needed to work on his aura control, the street thug had revealed he needed to work on his awareness during a battle, and that woman proved he needed to have some way to counter-act his less than favourable skills when disarmed. He had also learnt from Pyrrha that he still needed to work on his swordsmanship, and on top of all this he had to continue training his leadership, teamwork and academic skills. There was no way he'd be able to finish everything to an acceptable standard for the festival.

There was also one more thing the hunter-in-training needed. A ranged weapon. Considering the confrontations he'd been through recently a ranged weapon would definitely have saved him quite a lot of grief. The main problem was he had no clue what in Remnant to get, all he'd ever learned to use to fight Grimm with was Crocea Mors. By Pyrrha. This year.

He thought back to the ranged capabilities of his friends' weapons. Pyrrha's Miló had the nifty ability to convert between a spear, xiphos and a rifle, Ren's StormFlowers were guns by defaults and Nora had… well, grenades. Lots and lots of grenades. The blond leader shivered unconsciously. Ruby had her customisable, high impact… gun scythe thingy, Blake's Gambol Shroud could shift into a pistol, Yang's Gauntlets had those ki-blast-esque attacks and even Sun had those gunchucks! He roughly tugged at his hair as he realised just how many ranged attacks his friends had. The only people he knew didn't have a ranged weapon were Cardin and himself. Dust, he was pretty sure Velvet had some sort of range too… maybe.

The young man growled and punched the droid in front of him in irritation only to receive a fist to the gut and a robotic boot to the face in retaliation. The air left his lungs as he was harshly flung into the wall, his back arcing in pain. _I swear when I get a way to attack from afar, I am going to kick that robot's can._ He hung his head, maybe he could get Weiss to show him how to use dust to make his sword shoot fireballs, or maybe he could find something in the shops. Like a bow that launched lightning or a gun that shot ice…

The knight could feel himself drool at the possibilities. But first things first, he'd need to ask the resident weapons expert for some help divining the most suitable weapon for him. The blond knight was sure she would help, after all they were best friends and fellow leaders!

"Nope." Stated Ruby simply, a small amused grin haphazardly slapped on her face. Jaune puffed his cheeks childishly. The two were currently in her dorm room attempting to strike a deal, and not wanting to disturb their belongings Jaune opted to stand while Ruby sat on her bed. The room was fairly clean thanks to Weiss' efforts but as usual the rose's bed was a mess, her pillows and blankets stuffed into the corner of her bed in a lump.

"Oh come one Rubes, please?" He received silence in return. "I'll make you more cookies." Silence. "With strawberry frosting?" Jaune watched in disbelief as the young reaper managed to deny cookies, _cookies_ of all things. "But Rubes, cookies!"

The girl shook her finger at him, a cocky smirk on her face. "That wont work on me Jaune, you already promised that I could have cookies as long as I paid you a smile!" The writer clicked his tongue in annoyance. The red and black haired girl tilted her head to the left slightly as she brought her finger to her mouth in false confusion, "Why don't you get Pyrrha's help? I'm sure she would be more than happy to." The hunter-in-training sighed while shaking his head negative.

"I feel that lately I've been a nuisance to her. I mean, we're supposed to be partners and all I've done is hold her back by making her train a second rate huntsman like me." He explained pessimistically, dejectedly kicking at the ground, "I'm sure she's really just wishing for some time to herself to train."

"That's not true!" Cried the champion as she burst out from the lump of Ruby's pillows. The two leaders stared blankly at the red haired girl, Jaune most of all not expecting her to be there. The young student rubbed his eyes, trying to see if it was an illusion or not. _What is Pyrrha doing in Ruby's bed?_ The Spartan girl blushed at the attention she had gained by her rash action, "I-I, uh…"

No one had any time to question the champion, much to her relief, as a rather strange object fell onto Jaune's head. The blond frowned as his vision was obscured by the unidentified falling object. Pulling off the offending thing he was surprised to see a pair of lacy red p- "Kya!" Cried the resident weapons fanatic as she leapt off the bed and kicked the poor writer out the window. The two red haired girls stayed silent as a loud scream reverberated through the shattered glass for a few seconds before being silenced by a sickening crunch.

Yang hurriedly burst out of the bathroom clad in nought but a towel, a worried expression clear on her face, "What happened? It sounded like some girl was in trouble!" Ruby blushed heavily and pointed to the shattered window. She stayed silent as her elder sister walked over to the crime scene. Pyrrha just sent the younger girl the most incredulous look she could muster

The Spartan girl moved within whispering range of the rose, "Were those yours?" The girl merely smiled at her, her face resembling that of a Cheshire cat.

"No comment."

* * *

Jaune rubbed his back with a wince, he was lucky that he had landed on that pile of branches. Pyrrha smiled warmly at him as they made their way to the arena. "Are you sure you're okay?" He returned her smile with a light grin.

"I'm fine Pyr, so what ranged weapons did you have in mind?" He asked curiously. The champion giggled in her hand once she realised that Jaune was practically bouncing through the hallway in excitement. He looked like a young child waiting with bated breath for his Christmas gifts. The red haired girl gave him a look,

"First we need to check how proficient you are with each weapon I have in mind before we go and get you one. After all, it would be a waste to get one that you weren't good at." She explained, her tone adopting one of a teacher. The blond boy nodded slowly, trusting in his partner's reasoning. "I've called in a few favours and got a couple of ranged weapons that I believed suited you, but I didn't get anything to modify your sword because I figured your family wouldn't appreciate me doing that." Jaune blinked, he hadn't thought of that. His parents would kill him if they found out he modified his weapon in any way. The two came to a stop near the training rooms.

As they entered the arena he couldn't help but marvel at the small makeshift shooting range. At the beginning of the range sat a table with several weapons lying on it, practically ripe for the picking. He grinned giddily as he observed the different types of weapons. It was a hard choice as each weapon had their own benefits and drawbacks. His hand rested on a bow. Pyrrha smiled as he partner bounced around the table, he really was like a child sometimes but that was just what she loved about him. Her mind took a step back. _Love huh…_

The blond knight walked up to the range with the bow in hand and took aim. He had never tried to use a bow before, instead only learning how one worked for a story of his. The young author smiled, drawing back the string after notching the arrow correctly. Using all the knowledge he had about bows he stuck out a finger to help him aim once more. Pyrrha watched in awe and shock as Jaune loosed the arrow and- hit the seats to the far right of him. The two watched stupefied at the arrow's strange flight pattern. Not wanting to give up he notched another arrow and launched it, only for it to hit the roof behind him instead. Growling in determination he continued to loose arrows at the target unrelentingly only for them to fly off at awkward angles. The blond boy only stopped once an unlucky arrow had soared out to the window and wedged itself into a passing Nora's pancake. Needless to say, they needed to take a break from the ranged training to… calm down, the young rampaging Valkyrie.

The Spartan girl sighed, unfortunately the bow wasn't the right weapon for him. Maybe a weapon that was easier to fire would suit him better. "Why don't you try this?" Jaune looked up to see that she was holding a crossbow. Accepting the training weapon he loaded a bolt and took aim at the target once more, a little less confidence than the previous weapon. The two watched as the weapon misfired, causing the bolt to lop off the crossbow harmlessly. A dull thud echoed through the otherwise silent training ground as the bold fell comically onto the floor. "… moving on." Continued Pyrrha without missing a beat to make sure Jaune had no time to feel sorry for himself. Dust knew her partner had an unfortunate negative streak hidden under his usually outgoing personality.

The blond boy looked on in interest as she retrieved a blue javelin from the table. "Maybe this might work." Secretly she was hoping that he would have an affinity for the same weapons as her. It would work to further solidify the bond they had, and more training time with him didn't sound too bad. The red haired huntress-in-training handed over the weapon and stared as Jaune took a stance. He walked a few steps back to allow for some room to make momentum before he ran the short distance forward and threw the spear.

The young man sighed. If it wasn't just plain sad, it would've been rather amusing that the spear only travelled a few steps in front of him. The head was buried surprisingly deep into the ground though, so that was a plus. "Any other weapons Pyr?" He asked curiously. She nodded hurriedly.

"There are still quite a few weapons left. Surely there will be at least one." She mumbled to herself. Jaune tilted his head,

"I don't know who this 'Shirley' person is, but I'd at least like to give each of them a try." He grabbed a boomerang on the table and attempted to throw it, only for it to circle around and smash through the window. Before she could move to check up on him, the boy just wordlessly grabbed another weapon off of the table only for it to end just as badly as each weapon prior.

Pyrrha placed a hand on her chin in thought as a throwing knife flopped over her head. Perhaps she had been going about this in the wrong way. She sidestepped to the right as an axe wedged itself into the ground she had been standing on.

"Jaune. Have you ever had any experience using any form of ranged weaponry?" She asked curiously. It would've been better if they had started off building on his past experience rather than randomly picking and choosing. The blond knight nodded,

"Kind of. I've had brief training on how to use different types of handguns, other guns and a Frisbee." Pyrrha felt the need to question the choice of 'frisbee training' but decided against it. Instead she just handed him a semi-auto pistol.

She watched carefully as Jaune took aim, hoping he'd actually manage to hit the target this time. The blond held up the gun with his left hand and fired three shots in quick succession before tossing the gun to his other hand in a flashy manner and firing three more. He clicked his tongue upon noticing that the last bullet on each hand missed the bullseye. "I missed." He commented with a frown. The champion just stood stunned at his surprising show of aptitude for the small weapon. If this was what he could do with 'brief' training, she was excited for what he could do if he had more.

"Just how much training have you had?" She asked curiously. The knight scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, holding up two fingers. "Two years?" He shook his head, "two months?" He nodded affirmatively. They postponed continuing the range practice as the bell rang loudly, signifying that the cafeteria had began to supply lunch. Pyrrha smiled happily, "We'll continue this when we have free time." The writer returned her smile and nodded.

Halfway to the cafeteria Pyrrha had a sudden epiphany, "Wait, why didn't you think of using a handgun since you've had training?" Jaune laughed nervously,

"Well, I thought of all the cool gadgets and weapons that you guys used and it kind of, um, slipped my mind?" The champion gave him a look, "Oh come on Pyr, you have to admit. A simple handgun has nothing against Miló! Seriously, a sword, rifle and spear all in one? It's pretty nifty." Pyrrha sighed,

"Yes weapons can be cool, but it's more about functionality than appearance." She explained, "a weapon that is nothing but looks will not help you out in the battlefield." Jaune frowned but accepted her wise words of wisdom. "A problem I see with a handgun though is that it might not have the strength to take out a Grimm."

"But Ren and Blake's weapons are capable of doing that." He pointed out. The red haired girl frowned, that much was true but their weapons were customised to do so. A simple handgun found in the shops wouldn't be very helpful against Grimm. Human and Faunus opponents maybe, but not Grimm.

* * *

"And then Renny and I kicked the burglar out of Nora's Bed and Pancakes! Literally!" Exclaimed the owner of the ever-changing establishment excitedly as she waved her arms about. Ruby and Yang applauded as the story ended, tossing a couple of flowers around her.

Ren chuckled and lazily outstretched a finger, "I told the detective to leave before Nora assaulted him out of boredom." Blake blinked,

"Wait, isn't the term normally 'Bed and Breakfast'? Why go to the effort of naming it 'Bed and Pancakes'?" She queried curiously.

The young man sighed, "When the only food available _ever_ is pancakes I'd say 'Bed and Pancakes' is more suitable." He explained. The bookworm nodded slowly, seemingly accepting his reasoning as she continued with her book.

Weiss' eye twitched, "Aren't you focussing on the wrong part?" She asked rhetorically. The huntress-in-training shrugged nonchalantly, "I mean, what was a detective doing at your… erm, _establishment_?" Run shrugged as he took another bite out of his lunch.

"Apparently there have been a series of serial thefts occurring at several establishments across Vale." He explained, quoting the detective. "They weren't very serious thefts but they've still thrown the police for a loop. According to the detective each crime scene had several things in common." The students stared at him; their interests peaked. Something in common?

"What was it?" Asked Ruby, tilting her head in a similar manner to a dog.

Ren frowned as he thought back to the conversation he had with the man. The boy leaned in to the group, dropping the volume of his voice slightly. "The first thing they noticed was that there was a green dust crystal left at each crime scene. Whether or not this is their calling card is in dispute. Secondly, each area hit seems to draw a curve in the map. Luckily so far there have been no fatalities."

Yang frowned, "So you're saying this curve points to Nora's bed and Pancakes being the next possible target?" The boy in green nodded. "What are the names of the places that have been hit?"

The black haired boy fell silent in thought, his eyes closed as he tried to remember. "I think it was, Roses and Guns, Emily's Headlight Fluid and Mountain Ice Cream." He listed, "one of the detective also mentioned that-" Jaune's head hit the table as a ringing interrupted his teammate right at the interesting part. However, his interest was peaked as well when his scroll began to beep along with everyone else on Team JNPR.

Attention to all who participated!

The results of the writing competition will be showcased on 4PM at the fairgrounds near the docks of Vale! Prizes will be given out to those who were capable enough to achieve first through third place!

All are welcome to join in!

Team RWBY looked over Jaune's shoulder in envy, bar Blake who hadn't known of the competitions existence beforehand. Ruby pouted as she read the message on his scroll, "Jaune if you win second prize you have to share!" She demanded her fellow leader. Weiss nodded along vehemently, for once actually agreeing with her leader's decision. The blond laughed,

"Thanks, but I really doubt I'll win second place." With a cry of nonsense the two began to list reasons for him to share the prize. The group spun in surprise as another ring came from behind them, saving Jaune from the effort of prying the two girls from his arms. They were surprised to see Velvet fumbling embarrassedly with her scroll, the small gadget bouncing around as if it were a bar of soap. She gasped in anguish when she missed the expensive device by a hair, causing it to hurtle to the ground and shatter.

Or at least it would've if Nora hadn't caught it at the last second. "I got it!" She cheered happily. The group of seven collectively wiped their brow and released the breath they hadn't realised they had been holding. Velvet sighed in relief and bowed to the Valkyrie to represent her thanks.

"Th-thank you. Coco would've murdered me if I managed to drop another one." She mumbled, reading the message she just received. The knight gave her a questioning look, another one?. Noticing his curious look the bunny Faunus answered, "Um, that was almost the third time this week."

"But isn't today Tuesday?" The blush on her face as she muttered incoherent apologies answered Yang's question for her. "Uh, right well, how did your short story go Velv?" The brunette's expression visibly brightened upon the mention of her story.

"Oh, it went swimmingly thanks to Jaune!" She exclaimed happily, "oh, and thanks again for spending a day to help me. I'm sorry it took so long." Jaune grinned sheepishly as he waved it off,

"It wasn't too much of a hassle." He laughed, "Besides, who could say no to such a cute girl-" The words had naturally flowed out of his mouth and it had taken a moment for him to register what he had just said. _I think my stories are starting to affect me…_ Unfortunately for him the damage had already been done, Velvet began blushing like mad, and Pyrrha and Team RWBY were sending him light glares behind his back.

Yang laughed dangerously, "So Vomit Boy, while you were avoiding us like the plague you still managed to find time to hand out with a 'cute girl' like Velvet huh?" The blond knight began to sweat bullets, _I really regret apologising for avoiding them now…_

When the members of Team RWBY and the blond duo had finally arrived at Nora's business the other day after the whole dock fiasco, he had made sure to apologise for actively avoiding them for half a week. Yang's response was, and he quoted, "You were avoiding us?" This led to her team slowly realising that he had indeed been hanging around them less, which then brought him to his current predicament. They now had that to blackmail him with, and would not let that fact go.

He smiled apologetically, "Hey, I already said I was sorry for what I did. There isn't much more I can do about it." His partner appeared to have a sudden look of realisation,

"You were avoiding them? Is that why you jumped out of the window that one time?" The knight, despite his best efforts, was unable to silence the red haired champion in time, resulting in the collective confused stares of everyone around him.

"You… jumped out of a window?" Snickered Ren incredulously. The blond student nodded, shooting an irritated glare at Pyrrha out of the corner of his eyes. The champion smiled warmly, silently apologising profusely.

"I was going through a tough time okay!" He cried childishly, "Don't judge me!" The eight other students watched the boy comically jump out of the cafeteria window, shattering it.

"…" The group fell silent, unable to compute what had just occurred in front of them. A loud cry followed by a crash rang from the general vicinity of the blond that had just jumped through a window.

"Mr Arc, what are you doing destroying school property and assaulting a teacher?" The hunters and huntresses in training froze at the strict tone of one Glynda Goodwitch. "You _do_ understand the consequences of your actions right?" They shivered at the implications,

"N-now Miss Glynn, I'm sure I-I can explain this in a way that won't subject me to horrible punishment. Then we can just walk away and laugh about it." The teacher stayed silent, gesturing for him to continue. "… I got nothing."

"Punishment it is Mr Arc." Yang felt a cold chill run down her spine with the finality in the strict teacher's tone.

"M-Miss Glynn? I thought you said you wouldn't- b-but! No, wait you promised! Miss Glynn what are you doing with tha- Not there!" The eight students couldn't help but wince and feel sorry for the blond knight each time they heard a harsh snap and cry of pain from behind the wall. Neither of them wished to look out the window as currently no one was in the mood to be traumatised. After several more unidentifiable sounds flowed into the cafeteria and scarred the students within for life, Jaune was then gently levitated back in through the window using the witch's semblance. His shaking was the only proof of the unimaginable punishment he had gone through around the other side.

"Not a word." He stated simply, his voice cracking slightly. "Sh-shall we head out to the docks then?" He suggested in hopes of changing the conversation topic. Fortunately it appeared to work as the students hurriedly finished their lunches so they could leave, including the other groups that had overheard the harsh punishment he had undergone.

"S-so what's your story about Velv?" Asked Yang, hoping to get rid of the memory of what had just transpired. The Faunus blushed intensely,

"W-well, I uh. It's nothing really…" She muttered almost incoherently as she wiggled on the spot in embarrassment. The group looked on curiously. "Even with Jaune's help it's probably no that good- not that I'm saying you didn't help Jaune! Um… well-"

The blond laughed, "Nonsense!" He exclaimed with a friendly grin, "Your story was great!" The girl's blush somehow managed to deepen at the compliment, drawing out a knowing smirk from Ren. The knight smiled with what he assumed was a reassuring gaze. Velvet was a lot more talented than what she herself believed. She easily absorbed anything he taught her and tried to get it right to the best of her ability. She may not have been a genius, but she more than made up for it with her tenacity, and even then she was still very smart in her own right.

"D-Do you really think so?" She stuttered out hesitantly, a hopeful tone in her voice. Jaune gave her his trademark Arc grin and shot a thumbs up causing her to politely turn away. She wouldn't dare look at him in the eyes lest he get any weird ideas. "So are we going to head to the docks now or…?" She trailed off, "I'd really like to invite Coco to come with us." She admitted. The rose to her right shrugged nonchalantly.

"The more the merrier!" She cheered. Nora grinned and cheered along with her in her usual exuberant manner. Velvet smiled and bowed in thanks before calling her friend on her scroll, making sure not to drop it.

When the group started to head out and Nora was sure no one else was in earshot she whispered to her childish friend, "Why were we cheering? I kind of dazed out thinking about pancakes." Ruby giggled at her lack of attention. Feeling her mischievous streak coming along she whispered back,

"We're getting a bunch of pancakes." She joked. The pancakes and sloth-loving female cheered loudly, fist pumping the air so hard Ruby could've sworn the ceiling cracked from the force. The hyperactive girl laughed maniacally as she ran after the others and leapt onto her childhood friend's back. Ren grunted as she slammed hard onto his back, but he managed to stay upright. It wasn't the first time she had tried to tackle him into submission.

"Nora, what are you doing?" He asked curiously, not fazed by being hit with the force of a truck. While he never minds giving her a 'slothyback' ride as she oh so lovingly dubs it, certain assets were pressing up to his head that he would rather remove from his thoughts before he decided to become 'together-together' with Nora in front of all of their friends.

The girl grinned, seemingly unaware of the affect she had on the boy's calm demeanour. "Onward to the pancakes!" She shouted as a war cry, kicking Ren's side like a horse.

"Alright Nora just hold o-" He was interrupted by an exclamation of pain from none other than himself. "Nora, where did you find those?" He queried calmly while tentatively rubbing his arm. The girl had somehow managed to find cowboy boots complete with spurs.

She scoffed, "Nothing is impossible on a conquest for pancakes, nothing!" She huffed and crossed her arms, giving the group an impatient 'holier than thou' look. "Now onwards peasants! The queen of the castle demands we get there as soon as ASAP!"

Yang snickered and moved closer to her sister, "Since when was she almost as bad as Weiss?" Said girl glared at her indignantly, having heard the comment.

"Hey!" She cried. The heiress turned to the childhood friends, "and Nora, you don't say ASAP like that, it's counterintuitive. Everyone knows it means 'As soon as possible' so 'as soon as ASAP' doesn't work." She chided in a teacher-like manner.

The busty boxer moved to the youngest of the group once more, "Since when was Weiss almost as bad as Goodwitch?" Jaune yelped loudly upon hearing the name, hiding behind Pyrrha from the flat chested girl much to the champion's glee. The white haired songstress glared at Yang,

"Hey!" She cried as they continued down the hallway. Nora however glared at her in a childish manner,

"How dare you correct the Supreme Sloth Overlord, The Great and Powerful Rule of all Sloth Kind and Devourer of Pancakes!" Cried the Valkyrie. "Any further action against me and my kin will result in your immediate pun-ishment!"

Weiss blinked, "Pun-ishment?" Pyrrha, Blake and Ruby, all having been subject to the torture that was pun-ishment, shook their heads and animatedly made gestures for the ice queen to stay quiet. Ironically, their wordless messages fell on deaf ears as the girl continued, "What kind of imbecilic consequence is that?"

Nora gasped, "That is enough you flat chested hooligan! Time for the pun-ishment!

The heiress frowned, "Me? A hooligan? If anything Yang is the hooligan among us!" She shouted back. _Her_, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, a hooligan? She was nothing of the sort! Jaune snickered as a look of realisation appeared over his Snow Angel's visage. "No- wait- I am not flat! My chest is of average size! _Average!_"

Yang moved her hands over her heart in mock pain as if wounded by the girl's earlier quip. She sent a wink at Nora as she spoke, "Oh princess you wound me!" She exclaimed dramatically, "Is that really all you think of me? _Weiss_ must you be so _flat_ about our relationship? Can nothing get through your _Weiss cold_ heart? Do you really Sch-_need_ to be this _frosty_?" Each horrible pun left the group wincing in pain worse than when Jaune was being reprimanded. Even Nora felt sorry for the poor girl she had subjected to such torture, but she had to be a strict queen so Weiss would come to reckon her power.

Jaune in the meantime was having trouble holding in his laughter, each joke slowly bringing him closer to the edge. "Come on _W__eiss_ Queen, cheer up! Or are my puns just too _cool_ for you?"

"Alright I yield!" Cried the beaten girl as she collapsed outside of the airship. "I submit to your power Oh Slothy One." She bowed politely. _What in Remnant am I being forced to say?_ Then again, no price was too high so long as Yang's puns would stop. The orange haired girl smiled triumphantly and basked in her victory, high-fiving the blond girl to her right. On the sidelines Velvet giggled, their group had to be very closely knit to be able to talk to each other as smoothly as that. If she didn't already have her team she might have felt a little jealous. Though she was surprised that Ren could somehow deal with his childhood friend's continuous antics.

She smiled warmly at the two teams, a few more chuckles escaping from her lips. Hopefully they would continue to act this way as they got closer to the fair at the docks, it was taking her mind off of worrying about the results. She just hoped that after all the trouble she made Jaune go through for her sake she at least did well. "So where's Coco?" The brunette Faunus' head perked up upon being addressed.

"She'll be waiting for us at the fair." She answered. Blake nodded slowly while an awkward silence fell over the two. Velvet wriggled slightly in embarrassment, not knowing what to talk about. "G-great weather we're having right?" The older girl blushed, did she really just resort to asking that? The black haired girl raised a brow but decided not to say anything about her conversation topic.

Blake frowned in thought, _am I really that hard to talk to_? She wondered, "So… you never got to tell us about your short story," she started slowly, "is it alright if you talk to me about it?" Velvet nodded timidly, not wanting to offend the girl opposite.

"It's not that good though." She admitted modestly upon handing over her scroll. "I wrote it on here if you wanted to read it..." The introvert smiled and accepted the story, making sure to give her thanks to lessen the girl's tension. Velvet began to shuffle on the spot once more while Blake read the piece of fiction intently.

The bookworm read on in surprise at Velvet's writing, it was surprisingly good considering how much she was belittling it earlier. She took note of the brunette's modesty before continuing the story, slowly becoming invested in the characters. It was a little cliché at times and had a handful of points where it focussed too much on dialogue, but it was okay nonetheless. She smiled as she gave the scroll back to its owner, it was a short, pensive story about a bedridden boy sick with scarlet fever whose only friend is a pet bunny.

Though the fact that the boy's name was John Arch must have been a coincidence. Then again, Jaune _did_ help Velvet with the story. The introvert sent a sceptic look at the blond boy currently unconscious on a seat further down the airship. Nora apparently had the bright idea of knocking him out to prevent him from releasing his stomach contents all over the ship. Fortunately or unfortunately for the air-sick knight it was working. "So, whose idea was it to name the boy 'John Arch'?" She asked curiously, an innocent tone to her voice. The rabbit Faunus tapped her chin in thought.

"It was Jaune's I think." She said unsurely. It was technically the truth, she was pretty bad when it came to making names so he had suggested not thinking too much about them. She ended up with the names 'John Arch' and 'Vivi' for the bunny. Completely original, no connection to anything whatsoever. It also appeared that Jaune either didn't notice, was being nice or didn't want to bring up the names so they went unchanged. She didn't want to bring up the problem with the names either in case he genuinely didn't notice. Though Blake didn't need to know about that.

"Oh was it now?" Laughed the cat Faunus as she made a mental note to interro- _question_ Jaune about his choice of name later. "So what prize are you planning to win with this?" She asked curiously.

The brunette waved her hand dismissively, a small diffident smile plastered on her face. "Please. It's hardly good enough to make any of the top three." Blake watched on in interest as Velvet's smile warmed slightly, "Though it would indeed be nice if I could accomplish second place." She admitted.

The black haired Faunus nodded slowly. _What is the prize for second?_ She hadn't been there for the whole introduction to the competition so she didn't bother learning about the specifics, like the prizes, and just rolled with whatever the others were talking about. Besides, she wasn't the type to write. She much more enjoyed reading. However, if memory served right second place was…

"I didn't know you liked frozen yogurt Velvet." Commented the introvert in an attempt to continue the conversation. She had overheard Weiss mumbling to herself about that being one of the prizes so she assumed that may have been what her fellow Faunus was trying to earn. The girl shook her head,

"I don't mind it, but it isn't exactly on my Christmas list." Admitted the brunette.

The bookworm blinked, what other prizes were there? "Then is it the strawberries?" Ruby was currently going through a drooling-in-her-sleep phase as a result of dreaming about a years worth of strawberries. Velvet shook her head once more. Another uncomfortable silence fell over the two female Faunus once more as Blake ran out of things to say.

"Nora, Ruby, Yang!" Cried Pyrrha in a reprimanding tone that reminded Velvet of a mother. "Jaune isn't a volleyball!" This peaked the girls' attention, causing Blake to ask Nora's caretaker and childhood friend, aka. Ren, what exactly was going on.

"Well, for a while after Nora knocked him out Jaune was sleeping peacefully until she threw his unconscious body at Yang out of sheer boredom. That kind of spiralled down to a game of volleyball where the loser has to buy the winner food." Velvet giggled at their antics while Blake sighed in contrast. "Oh, and Ruby joined in because she thought it looked fun."

"It's a draw!" Cried Nora as Jaune arced over their heads. The group gasped as the airborne knight woke up mid-air, much to his shock and horror. Before he could comment on his situation, and land for that matter, he came to a terrible realisation. He was on an airship.

And with the sudden realisation came the sudden urge to empty his stomach. "Oh gross, Yang! You got vomit on your shoe!" Cried Ruby, taking a step back from her older sister. Jaune landed on the ground with a flop, what was he doing in mid-air?

The knight winced slightly as the blond girl screeched near his ear. "Eew, Rubes get it off!" She squealed as she shook her foot around the airship. The group of seven shuffled around the confined space in order to avoid the young woman.

"Yang, don't wipe it on me! This is a new cloak!" Blake pinched the bridge of her nose as she listened to the blond bombshell freak out, this was going to be a long trip.

* * *

Jaune groaned along with his stomach. That was a stupidly long trip. "I'm never riding that metal death trap ever again." He grumbled. Weiss rolled her eyes at the downed form of the knight, kicking him lightly to try and pull a reaction from him.

"What are you going to do, walk?" The blond writer moaned, giving the girl a determined yet weak grin.

"I can try!" He cried adamantly. The resolve in his tone unfortunately was ruined as another groan escaped from his stomach. Pyrrha hid her amused smirk as she rubbed his back soothingly,

"Don't push yourself Jaune." Having ducked into the trashcan to release the contents of his stomach once more, his partner's advice flew directly over his head. "Do you guys want to go on ahead? I'll stay with Jaune until he calms down a bit." It would just be the two of them. Alone. Without the others. The group shrugged,

"We're fine with waiting." Pyrrha nodded along with the busty blond. It was probably for the best, dust knew what she'd do to her partner if they were alone. "C'mon Vomit Boy, you're one of the reasons why we're even here in the first place!"

Jaune groaned from within the metal can, his voice a mere echoing whimper. "I can't go any further, go on without me. Just leave me some ammo, a little water, maybe some chips if you have them." Nora began to tear up at the downed form of her glorious leader,

"Don't die on us Jaune Jaune Arc! You're going to make it. Remember, you still need to tell your _Weiss_ you love her!" She wailed as she shook his body, really not helping the situation whatsoever.

Weiss blushed, "I thought there wouldn't be any more puns." She mumbled, _'You know you liked the Weiss/Wife pun~'_ The heiress glared inwardly, the extra commentary wasn't necessary. "Nora, he's not dying."

Ruby burst into tears as she hugged the blond knight, "Don't go Jaune! I still need your cookies!" Blake sighed at the display, people were beginning to stare.

Ren saluted the limp body of his leader and male friend, "You were like the brother I never had Jaune." He stated solemnly. The two sane people of the group almost fell over in surprise. Even Ren, the silent stoic male of the group, was participating in the antics. "You will be remembered." Weiss grew a tick mark,

"He's not dying you imbeciles!" She barked in irritation.

Blake brought up a finger as she added onto her teammate's statement, "But he will be if you keep shaking him like that Nora." The Valkyrie opened her tear stricken eyes to see the comical gooey lump of what she assumed was her leader.

"Jaune no, don't go into the light!" She cried, shaking him harder than before. Meanwhile Yang's sides were threatening to tear as she rolled on the floor laughing madly. Not even her killer puns could make her laugh this much. To the right of the spectacle was a certain champion who was beside herself with worry along with a concerned bunny Faunus. Blake and Weiss shared a look before walking off to the fair in mutual silence, the two actually agreeing on something for once.

* * *

Nora tossed the still blobby Jaune haphazardly onto the plastic seat in front of the wooden stage the results would be announced from. The entire trip there was a lotmore of a hassle than it should have been. He lazily gave a thumbs up to his partner when she asked if he was alright. He had somehow survived losing all contents of his stomach and dry heaving for a few more minutes, and now was learning just how appreciative of the ground he really was.

"Whoa, hotshot. You don't look so hot." A voice broke him out of his bout of self-loathing. "If you needed a pick-me-up you should've called 'hun" The young student turned his full attention to the voice and was happy to see a certain fashionista. She tilted her sunglasses down and gave him a suggestive wink, "I do still owe you for these clothes after all."

Upon closer inspection the brunette was wearing a familiar looking set of clothes. "Wow, you are rocking that outfit Coco." He adorned an appreciative grin as he gave her a once over, "Seriously, you look great." Several girls gave the second year student a jealous glance but otherwise said nothing.

"Coco you came!" Cheered Velvet as she hugged her teammate. The young woman grinned and gave the bunny Faunus' rump a good slap, earning an embarrassed yelp from the girl.

The group around the girl blushed in embarrassment along with her, save for Yang who instead gave the fashionista a high five. "Wouldn't miss it for the world Velv." She responded with a chuckle. It was just too easy sometimes.

"Testing testing, is this thing on?" The group of now ten students turned to see a middle aged man on the stage holding the mic. "Welcome one and all to the results for our little competition to see who could be Remnant's new top writer! Now, we've called you all out of your busy schedules to this fair because some of our prizes, or rather all of them, aren't exactly something we can just mail to you." Jaune blinked, why did this man look so familiar?

Roman groaned inwardly, this had to be the stupidest, most obsolete job in existence. Who ever announced stuff like this live? He was just glad that Neo's disguise was working, otherwise he'd be in a _lot_ of trouble. "Now, honourable mentions to a few short stories for being good but not quite making the cut." Yang's mind shut down briefly upon seeing the list in the announcer's hand unfurl onto the stage before comically rolling _off_ of the stage and making it three rows down before stopping. This was going to take a while…

Nora sat in one spot bored out of her mind. It had probably been a whole hour since the weird man started reading out unimportant names. She looked at the time on her scroll. It had been exactly three minutes. That was three minutes too long! She wanted to see her glorious leader win already! "Hurry up or I'll break your legs!" She cried impatiently. The brown haired man on stage seemed to shake in his boots as he threw away the list.

"I guess that list is unimportant then. Onto the part you've all been waiting for. I'd like to present the prizes!" The contestants and onlookers stared intrigued at the spectacle as the prizes were revealed. "For third place, one lucky winner will get to have dinner with the famous author Jane Caur and half a years worth of tuna!" Yang gasped as she was suddenly tackled to the ground by a black and white blur,

"I didn't know you were the dominating type Blakey." Commented the blond, "Not that I mind~" The black haired girl rolled her eyes and ignored her partner's teasing.

"Why didn't you tell me one of the prizes was all the tuna I could ever want?" She growled, shaking the blond girl.

"Well, you weren't there for when we read out the flier so I wanted to win it as a surprise for you." The cat Faunus sighed and let go of the boxer. She had good intentions so she decided to let it slide. Yang whimpered,

"Aww, done already?" Blake rolled her eyes once more and sat on a plastic chair.

"For second prize we have a special dinner for three and a years worth of strawberries and any flavour frozen yoghurt of your choice!" Ren wordlessly moved a seat further to his left while Ruby and Weiss began to drool. "And lastly, for first prize we will publish your fiction on a magazine for all to read, and you also receive this boatload of pancakes!" The audience cheered as a sport yacht pulled alongside the docks. Nora of course cheered the loudest when she noticed that the boat was covered in piles of pancakes. She rubbed her hands together, with this her sloth army will be unstoppable! The knight felt his stomach heave upon seeing the mountain of pancakes rock back and forth.

"And now to announce our wonderful winners! To those who either won or got a honourable mention, congratulations you're all great writers. And to those who didn't, well you tried… and failed. Sucks to be you huh?" The audience couldn't help but gawk at the man's sudden change, a large grin on his face as he cast out snide remarks at the people who hadn't done too well. To be fair however, thanks to a certain Valkyrie no one knew who had made the honourable mentions list.

Roman cleared his throat, "Now in third place, a story written about the consequences of trusting strangers, please give your applause to…" The disguised crook's eyes widened by a fraction, "Cinder Fall!" The crowd gave the unknown writer an obligatory clap. "Congratulations Miss Fall for attaining third prize."

Blake gave a small mewl of protest, "No fair." She muttered under her breath.

"In second place we have a rather intriguing piece of fiction that details the life of a sickly boy suffering from scarlet fever and his pet rabbit, congratulations to Velvet Scarletina!" Ruby squealed loudly for her friend. Even Weiss was uncharacteristically radiant, opting to jump around excitedly with her partner. "Your tickets for dinner will be sent via scroll. Otherwise the rest of your prize will be available whenever you ask."

The young rose grasped the rabbit Faunus' hands firmly, "Velv, you will share some of your prize with us right? _Right?_" The brunette giggled at her friend's rather adorable expression of need and nodded. There was more than enough to go around.

Meanwhile Jaune was grinning from ear to ear, he had avoided the one prize that would've made his situation very difficult to explain and at the rate it was going he may avoid attention altogether. He was rather proud that Velvet managed to reach second place with his help and felt that was enough to sate his writer's pride. He stood up and stretched, the event was probably not going to go on much longer so it would be fine if he left early and hit up some stands. The blond author was starving but currently the mere sight of food left him dry heaving.

"Now in first place was a story that's intricacy stood out from the others. It's detail despite being a short story was something only a true author could pull off." Jaune's interest was peaked while he made his way down the middle of the rows of cheap plastic chairs. _I swear, if Nora made first the world will end._ He thought to himself, "A story about a young man who makes a mistake and is forced to traverse his kingdom in order to clear his name." His step faltered, _Oh bullsh-_ "Please put your hands together for the author that won, Jaune Arc!" He froze mid-step, this was not happening. Roman grinned sadistically -on the inside of course- taking pleasure in the boy's expression. "Could you please come up to the stage so we can have a picture for the magazine when we publish the story _for all to see_?" Asked the announcer, putting a strange emphasis on his last few words. Jaune gulped, he was going to look like an overconfident asshat for supposedly getting up even before his name was called.

Reluctantly, he began the walk to the stage. The young man shuddered once he felt the gazes of the entire audience upon him and he felt his stomach heave slightly, whether from nervousness or motion sickness riding up again he wasn't sure. He gave an awkward smile to the announcer after reaching him. The walk of shame was embarrassing to say the least. The man grinned, "So, Mr. Number one writer. Smile at the camera." The knight shot the camerawoman a small smile. The device flashed and the young girl gave a thumbs up to Roman. "Alright that is all. Thank you all for coming! As a sign of our gratitude everyone here will receive a free voucher for some food stalls here." He turned to Jaune with a happy expression, "Mr Arc, here are the keys to the boat. Make sure you treat it well, it is very expensive after all. Once again, congratulations on winning a boatload of pancakes." Jaune blinked, unable to believe they had actually given him a literal boatload of pancakes. Boat included. What was he going to do with a boat, and where was he going to put it?

He said his thanks and farewells to the announcer man and grouped up with the rest of his fellow students. Weiss gave him a look, "Isn't it rather narcissistic of you to walk to the podium before the announcer even said anything. I didn't realise you were so conceited." The blond student sighed,

"That was a coincidence. I honestly thought I wasn't going to get first place so I decided to leave early to get something to eat." His brow twitched upon being on the receiving end of several unconvinced looks. "Hey, you try vomiting out the food from yesterday and not feel hungry!" He cried angrily. Ruby shrugged along with Nora and Yang. They would be pretty miffed if something like that happened to them and they didn't get something to eat.

Pyrrha and Velvet walked up to the boy, concern evident in their features as they asked if he was okay. Weiss turned to see that Blake, Coco and Ren, although initially disbelieving, were indifferent after hearing his reasoning. She shook her head, deciding to leave the subject alone.

Once the group of ten reached the docks where the boat was parked they couldn't help but appreciate the design. It wasn't too big or too small and seemed to be relatively new to boot. Yang grinned and turned to her fellow blond, "Hey Vomit Boy, can I name it?" The boy in question turned to the ship only to dry heave upon seeing the pancakes once more. _Looking at food is apparently still not a good idea right now… _He just nodded his head in response, not caring too much about the girl's wish. "Great! So in celebration of Velv's story getting second place and Jaune getting first place, I now present to you…" Nora grinned as her cue came up. The group of eight watched in mild interest while Yang paused for dramatic effect and Nora drummed in the background, "The SS. John Ark!" Silence ensued.

"… Why that name?" Asked Ruby curiously.

The buxom blond's smile evolved to that of Cheshire cat status. "Glad you asked sis! It is the combination of John, which sounds like Jaune but is the name of the main character of Velv's story, and Ark, which is a boat that Professor Oobleck told us about during history class." The students groaned at the horrible joke. It was twice as bad considering she had to explain how it was a joke in the first place. Before Jaune could find it in himself to get over his motion sickness and laugh three students immediately threw him onto the boat, effectively silencing him. Somewhat.

"Oh dear dust I'm going to be sick." He grumbled, "Whose bright idea was it to give the guy suffering from motion sickness a boat?" The Valkyrie quickly tackled Jaune off of the ship when she noticed his dry heaving coming back harsher than ever.

"No glorious leader, not on the pancakes!" Needless to say, it was an eventful two hours before they could get back to Beacon to celebrate.

* * *

"I still can't believe Ozpin had somewhere to store your boat." Commented Weiss upon arriving back at Beacon. Jaune felt his stomach rise once again. The one time he hadn't vomited on an airship, and it was because he had run out of things _to_ vomit long ago. He still had no idea why his motion sickness had worsened as of late, nor why he was in mid-air when he regained consciousness on the airship to Vale but he had an inkling that they were somehow related.

Yang rolled her eyes, "Well a lot of students have personal vehicles so it would make sense that they would need a safe place to store it. For example Bumblebee." The heiress frowned, it was sound logic but still hard to accept. How did they have the insight to get a place to store a boat of all vehicles?

Coco grinned at the group, "So what are we gonna do to celebrate this occasion? After all, hotshot here managed to get first place." The fashionista grinned and spanked him, eliciting a loud yelp from the boy and causing him to jump. He gave her a hurt look,

"Don't do that!" He cried, rubbing his rump in shock. The second year smirked dangerously and sauntered up to him slowly. She roughly grabbed him by the collar, dragging him closer to her face. The two were practically a hand width apart and he could feel her hot breath on his face.

"And what are you going to do about it?" She asked curiously, a hint of suggestiveness in her voice. Jaune swallowed audibly with a blush, extremely aware of their close proximity. "Hit me back?"

"I-I j-just might." He somehow managed to retaliate between his nervous stutters. If this was what his dad referred to as banter, then he was supposed to be confident. Unfortunately he seemed to fail his dad's 'wise' advice.

Nora cheered silently for her glorious leader, turning to her best friend and partner with an excited smile. "I think they're gonna boop." She whispered to him.

Before the situation could escalate any further Pyrrha came between the two, "W-well um, so what did you think we should do to celebrate?" Coco gave the champion a confident look. _Challenge accepted_.

She smirked and laid her arm onto the blushing author in an almost possessive manner. "Well Pyrrha, I was planning on more of a one-on-one celebration with just me and him." His blush deepened at the look she gave him. "And trust me when I say one _on_ one."

The Spartan girl growled at the brunette, she was not going down without a fight. She hurriedly grabbed her partner by the hand, "I think a group activity will be a lot more suitable of a celebration. After all, Velvet did well too."

Coco laughed, "I think a party of two is absolutely fine, but if you insist I guess I could involve Velv as well." The Faunus girl blushed at what her teammate was insinuating.

"Uh, we're all here too y'know. And we can hear everything you're saying." Commented Blake with a blush of her own. Ruby was currently hiding under her hood embarrassedly while Weiss tried to calm her down with a red face.

"Yo guys!" Called a voice. "There you are. I've been lookin' all over for you." Jaune sighed in relief, Sun had come to his rescue. "I have something I wanted to ask you all." The group gave him a curious look.

"What do you say to going on a group trip to the training facility in Vale to prep us all for the Vytal Festival?" The ten students blinked. Training facility?

* * *

**After worrying about his skills as a hunter our hero has finally decided on getting a ranged weapon. Whether or not it will help him is left to be seen however. Our blond protagonist appears to be facing a streak of unluckiness as he had to face not only vomiting for minutes on end but also the wrath of Goodwitch and ownership of a boat he never wanted or realised he would get, and what is Cinder scheming by entering her own competition? Find out next chapter as Jaune goes on a date with the devil!**

**And that is where we leave it for today! Not much happened this chapter save for a few plot points sewn through and a large amount of humour as per usual. I wasn't entirely sure how to end the chapter so I left it there.**

**For those who skip the A/N at the top but still read this one, I'm sorry for the incredibly long delay for this chapter. Don't worry though, as an apology I will get the next chapter out within a week and hopefully in time for Christmas!**

**Those who can identify a specific reference win a boatload of pancakes, boat may or may not be included.**


	18. Chapter 18- A Date with Destiny

**Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! If all goes well this might actually come out on Christmas somewhere... Anyway, thank you all for your support and please Review, Favourite and Follow if you enjoyed!**

**Reviews!**

**Fuzzyjacket: **In a future chapter maybe? Who knows?

**TheHumanoidTyrant:** Wow, good to know you enjoy my fanfic that much. Hopefully this chapter lives up to expectations.

**Hahli Nuva:** Thank you!

**Amvmaster:** Yep. Can't tell if he's lucky or not though.

**DarkElucidator:** Yeah that was a reference, nice catch. Though the boatload of pancakes would obviously float with the magic of sloths, duh.

**The Truth of Words:** Well considering a major plot point of the story is Jaune trying to make sure no one figures out his secret, it may take a bit for _everyone_ to learn it.

**BDFun97:** Yeah, the reference came along naturally when I was writing it.

**LaughingLefou:** Thank you, it's fantastic to know that this is one of your favourite fics! I enjoy The Phantom Nevermore and Immortal by the way, you've done a great job with those.

**garoorar:** You may be right, you may be wrong. However, if you are right I give you permission to say you called it. Do you _really_ think I'll let Jaune substitute with his sister when there's so much potential for him to be unfortunate in every way possible?

**StygianSloth:** Hopefully this is still relatively in time for Christmas when I post it.

**Thehidden6lade:** Nope, you were spot on with that reference. Thanks for the praise, and I'm better but being sick is still a pain.

**Cloy552:** Then you obviously haven't seen me, and by extension Jaune, use a bow. Seriously, if you want to clear a room just give me a bow. I've even managed to hit a golf ball backwards.  
And Jaune hasn't found out through the magic of plot, childish trust and the fact he doesn't watch the news.

**NinjaFang1331:** Thank you!

**Guest (Guest):** Thank you. I enjoy writing scenes with Coco in it, always makes interactions between other characters, namely the ones interested in Jaune, funny.

**Daedelus' Muse:** Yes, yes it was.

**CrazyTrollR49:** Yeah that conversation was pretty funny. Can't wait 'till Jaune, Neptune and Sun are in the same room talking about snacks…

**Zyxis Ouroboros ReArchtypist:** Yes, Chicken Little.

**SMxABULM:** Thanks!

**Dutoc:** Thank you, Neo is one of my top three characters to write interactions with Jaune for.

**AD Lewis:** Well… it's still Christmas some parts of the world now right?

**The Richmaster:** The trip will be fun and full of antics to say the least.

**guy (Guest):** That part was pretty funny, yes.

**Disclaimer: I still don't own RWBY or anything I reference in this fanfic. They are all owned by their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 18- A date with destiny… and Cinder

The group stared blankly at Sun. "Um, who are you?" Queried Pyrrha curiously. The red haired champion gave the blond Faunus as mistrusting look upon noticing the familiarity in which he looked at Jaune with. "And how do you know my partner?" She added on. The knight's eyes widened when he realised Pyrrha hadn't been at the docks the night he introduced Sun.

Sun's eyes widened. "_She's_ your partner?" He exclaimed loudly as he gestured animatedly at the woman, "dude, _nice_!" He laughed, smacking his friend across the back. "Honestly, I initially thought Blake was your partner considering how concerned you were." The young writer laughed it off, stating the two were just book friends.

Blake shook her head at her fellow Faunus, "Anyway, what's this about training?" Queried the female bookworm, obviously annoyed. "You said something about a facility in Vale?" Sun grinned at the black haired girl and nodded affirmatively,

"Ozpin was kind enough to tell me about a facility just outside of Vale that is used in training for the Vytal Festival. Its got everything, hot springs, arenas, shooting galleries and state of the art fighting simulators. It even has an arena of similar make to the one used in the festival." His grin widened when he saw that he had won several of them over with his pitching skills. Weiss frowned, she was all for the idea of one-upping- er, _preparing_ for her enemies, but such a high-standard facility would surely cost fortunes in lien. "And the best part is, it's free until the beginning of the Vytal Tournament!" Jaune smiled thankfully at his childhood friend. A shooting gallery meant he had better equipment to train using a long ranged weapon.

"So when are you planning this trip? 'Cause Team JNPR will be with you all the way." The two blonds grinned and bumped the back of their fists.

"Sweet, though it'll probably be just Neptune and I with you guys, Sage and Scarlet are busy. We're thinking of heading there in two or so days, sound good to you guys?" Ruby grinned along with the two blond leaders,

She smirked mischievously as she put her hands on her waist, "I hope you aren't leaving us out, because as leader of Team RWBY I decided-"

"It was a group decision." Interjected Weiss.

'Yeah, whatever, _we_ decided we will join you." Sighed Ruby, her parade snowed on by the Ice Queen.

Coco smirked, "Yatsuhashi and Fox are busy with some stuff, but Velv and I will definitely be there." Sun's eyes sparkled, _this is going to be great_. He knew it would be a great idea inviting Jaune around his friends.

"Dude, you have no idea how happy I am to have you for a friend." He admitted, a few manly tears falling down his cheeks. "I'm serious, this trip will be a million times better thanks to you."

Jaune frowned when the monkey Faunus turned away, the last time he had heard that line from Sun was when he… Ruby, Yang and Nora all 'aww'd' at the unexpectedly sappy line from the blond. As the groups split up for the day, chatting excitedly about the trip, the blond hunter in training towed his long lost friend around the corner by the tail. "Alright spill. My sisters aren't around this time so who are you after now?" He stated with all the seriousness in the world. Sun gasped dramatically,

"I can't believe you think I have an ulterior motive for this." He clasped his hand over his heart in mock hurt, "What ever makes you think that I-"

Jaune just gave him a disinterested look in response, "The last time you ever mentioned how happy you were to be my friend was that one family trip to the beach. You really enjoyed watching my sisters and the beach balls."

Sun scoffed, "Of course, they were really colourful so they caught my eye now and again."

"… We didn't bring any beach balls." Stated the blond pointedly. The other male blinked, _well played_.

"Alright fine, I _did_ want you to come, but then I realised if I could bring you then Blake would come since she was your partner. Well, that was before I found out the red head was you partner instead. I'm still fine with you coming with Neptune and I though, it'll be a bro's vacation!" Cheered the open shirted boy.

Jaune rolled his eyes, "Blake is on Ruby's team."

"SCORE!" Cried the student much more enthusiastically. "I mean, the more the merrier right?"

The knight gave his friend blank look, "Right, well if you need me I'll be headed to the library to make some plans." Muttered the knight, leaving his pal to fantasise about the upcoming trip. The young man frowned as he traversed the maze-like halls of Beacon, each looking just as similar as the last. According to the announcer, someone that went by the name of Cinder Fall would be the one having to meet with 'Jane Caur' after winning third prize and he needed to make sure nothing fell on the date of that. Neo had told him to be on the lookout for clashes like that as Roman had been feeling under the weather lately and forgot to cross-reference the timetables before making appointments.

He walked up the stairs deep in thought, increasing his awareness of his surroundings using his semblance to avoid accidents. There were a lot of things he had to make a schedule for before the start of the tournament, such as days to train, study, writing and socialising as well as free days to keep the schedule flexible. Usually, his favourite ice cream would be helping him out but she was busier than normal as of late.

Roman had joked that she found some guy to entertain her but he subconsciously hoped that wasn't the case. He didn't know what he'd do without her- as his publisher of course. Jaune sighed, all he could do was believe that she wouldn't stop publishing his works. It sounded slightly pathetic, but it was true.

"Remnant to Jaune?" Called Amethyst as she waved her hand directly before him. He leapt back in surprise at the sudden appearance, how did she get the drop on him he had the senses of a Faunus currently? "What's shakin'?" She asked curiously, flopping carelessly backwards onto one of the many couches in the library. The young hunter in training rolled his eyes at her carefree nature. At time she reminded him of Yang, only less violent.

"Just planning trips and things." He answered with a sigh. The older woman smirked at his tired visage, taking note of the obvious lack of sleep.

She beckoned him to move closer and gestured towards the open space next to her. The blond writer smiled thankfully and sat politely in the space, trying to use as little possible so the purple haired woman was still able to lie down. "So I heard from Yang you came first place in that competition thing and won a bunch of pancakes. How were they?" Jaune shrugged,

"Dunno, ask Nora's stomach." The two shared a quick laugh. The young Valkyrie didn't know how to hold back when it came to her favourite treat. "We also won a boat. Though who would expect that a literal boatload of pancakes would also come with the boat?" Amethyst snickered at the thought and shrugged, it was unorthodox but nothing to worry over.

"So what's keeping you up now? Still upset over Alice?" She asked with a concerned tone, stretching her arms as she did so. Jaune smiled warmly at the girl but didn't answer immediately.

He shook his head slowly, "I know you're trying to be a worried older sister right now, but it's fine really." He chuckled lightly, "Besides, I already have four older sisters worrying about me and the look doesn't suit you." The woman pouted,

"Well excuse me for trying to be a good friend, especially since I still owe your sister a favour." She pursed her lips at the knight, "To think you wouldn't be ecstatic that your beautiful upperclassmen was worried about you, what kind of man are you?" He rolled his eyes at her antics, she really didn't suit being an older sister.

"I'm serious about wanting to know what's biting at you though." He would stagger back at the sudden seriousness in her one if it weren't for the fact he was sitting down. Though that didn't stop him from giving her a blank stare in response. The librarian gave him an irritated, yet still playful, look. "C'mon Jaune, out with your secrets! I need gossip for Yang." He grinned,

"Aha! You reveal your true colours!" He exclaimed triumphantly while pointed down at her with a finger, "And the answer is no by the way." He added in a polite tone.

She shrugged her shoulders, not too disheartened by the defeat. "Fair enough." She sat up with a short stretch and lazily got off of the couch, "I'll be sorting some books over there if you change your mind and want to have a heart to heart. Blake just returned the seventy three books she borrowed from last month and I haven't even gotten through half of it." Jaune chuckled and wished her luck with her admittedly futile endeavour. By the time she was finished with those Blake would probably be back with another stack of books.

He sighed, now onto more pressing matters. He had to deal with the meet and greet as Jane Caur. Roman, in his infinite wisdom, accidentally signed him up on a day where his sister wasn't available. Meaning he'd have to wear that annoyingly believable woman disguise again. A loud bang echoed around the library as Jaune headbutted the table, _whyyyyyyyyyyyy?_

The knight sighed and turned back to his schedule reluctantly. _After I get through that ordeal I have to do a little basic training until we head to the facility to, well, train_. Then there was the books he needed to be writing and the fact that school was still going throughout this. He sighed, soon he would have the blissful relaxation that came with the mid-semester break and hopefully recharge his batteries enough for the Vytal Festival and more training. He had a lot to play catch-up with if he wanted to be up to scratch before the tournament that came with the Vytal Festival. With his schedule sorted the blond author nodded to himself, glad that a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

There was still one thing disturbing him though. A nagging feeling that had been growing since a week ago. He had asked Blake to teach him about Faunus for his research, not that she knew about the true purpose, and he had psyched himself up to tell her only to chicken out at the last second. Now though, that feeling of doubt and need to tell someone had been growing since then. Normally he'd be fine with it but after making so many friends he felt guilty for keeping such a secret from them, especially after the whole revelation with Blake.

Jaune mentally tore his hair out several times over. It was slowly killing him and tearing him apart, not telling anyone. He felt like he had to tell someone or he'd explode with guilt, but who? Blake, Yang and any of the teachers or his female teammates were out of the question. Ruby would be easily bribed by cookies as it was not a life or death matter, Weiss would hate him forever if she found out and Ren would eventually be forced to tell Nora, who would in turn tell everyone else. _Coco wouldn't let me near Velvet if she caught wind of it and Velvet would probably think badly of me if I told her about it_.  
There was only one option left. He had to tell Sun. It was definitely a bad idea considering the blond Faunus was definitely the type to not be able to keep a secret, case and point him 'spilling the beans' of Blake's background not even a minute after she told him. But he was his best friend from childhood and wouldn't judge him too harshly... right?

Once again the second thoughts came in as he began to doubt his choice. He was sure if he told anyone else they would overreact, hate him forever or not be able to keep the secret, so it didn't leave him with very many options. It was either tell him or suffer, and many may not have realised it, but Jaune really didn't like suffering. He frowned with reluctant acceptance, he would do it. Next time he saw Sun he'd tell him-

"What's up bud?" Asked the monkey faunus in question as he dropped down from the roof. Jaune leapt out of the couch in surprise.

"Not yet Sun, I'm still not mentally prepared for this!" He cried, hiding behind the red furniture.

Meanwhile in their dorm room Ren was worried about his own childhood friend who had suddenly flown backwards through a wall. "Nora what happened?" He asked curiously, wiping down the bloody mess she had made. The girl grinned as she wiped the blood from her nose, stars in her eyes.

"Renny, give me a pen or a scroll to write down on stat!" She cried excitedly, "I have a spontaneous urge to write down another short story!" The boy winced, hopefully it wouldn't be another partly slash fiction about him and his leader. Pyrrha still couldn't look at the two males talk without losing a copious amount of blood.

* * *

"Aww, don't you just look adorable." Cackled Roman as he looked upon the dress-clad form of Jaune. The writer growled dangerously at his editor, if he didn't know any better the man set this up on purpose. "My little Janey Waney is going on her first date. Don't worry kid, I got you the best table seats at the most expensive restaurant for this. If you couldn't tell, I'm pretty professional when it comes to women. After all, you can't spell 'romantic' without 'Roman'!" The blond boy dressed as a girl grew a tick mark as the man began to guffaw at his own joke.

"I swear, I am going to strangle you one day and it is going to be glorious." He stated simply. From behind the two Neo grinned, she was definitely going to be there strangling the orange haired headache alongside with her cute little author. "And never call me 'Janey Waney' ever again if you don't want that day to be today."

Roman grinned, nonplussed about his threat. "Sure sure kid. Good luck with the date though." _You'll need it if you're dealing with that woman_. He added mentally. Poor guy now had to deal with Cinder and that obviously would not end well. He had to question what exactly she was scheming by writing her own story into the mix though. Neo had been the one to decide on what short stories were the best, and in order to make things fair for the contestants Roman had removed the author name from the stories. That made it all the more amazing that she still managed to pick out Jaune's. Sure it was a pretty good story, but there were a lot of stories that were just as good. Honestly, by that brat's usual standards it was pretty mediocre. The male criminal did wonder though why she had picked that story about a boy named 'John Arch' for second place... _Never mind. Note to self, smash something heavy over the brat's head while he's asleep to keep Neo's 'innocence' intact_.

The young looking woman grinned enthusiastically at the blond, '_Just be yourself and she probably won't murder you'_ she said to him confidently as she grabbed his arm to make use of his semblance. Jaune blinked, she wasn't serious about the murder right? '_Honestly, I'm not sure myself... Good luck!_' He yelped loudly as she suddenly pushed him out the door, shutting it closed with a loud bang. Well that didn't bode well for him.

From behind the door Neo was seething, how dare that fiery seductress rig the results to go on a 'date' with her author! It was outright unfair, why didn't she think of that!? Roman watched the girl go on a temper tantrum fitting of her childlike visage, tossing furniture and kicking walls. He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned his gaze skyward whilst adorning an 'are you kidding me' expression, this was going to be a pain to deal with until the knight got back from his date.

* * *

'Jane' sighed as she looked at the card Roman had handed her earlier. It was about a twenty minute walk from her current location. That meant a twenty minute walk through Vale in a dress. The cross dressing knight sighed, she never thought she'd be forced to wear this convoluted disguise once more. Luckily she had managed to convince Neo to let her not wear the high heels along with it on account of her nearly breaking her legs after three steps. She shivered at the thought of Nora figuring out that the only thing she needed to do to break people's legs was to force them to wear high heels.

After trudging through a very embarrassing walk through Vale Jane finally made it to her destination, a classy fine dining restaurant that was no doubt very expensive. The blond writer slowly stepped into the establishment and took note of just how high class the place was. As always, the colour white was used frequently along with inside plants to make the restaurant feel all the more fancy. She spared a glance at the customers and stifled a giggle- er, manly chuckle at how uptight and high class they all were. Almost reminded her of Weiss.

"Good evening miss." Greeted a rather well dressed waiter. He bowed politely to the young woman, "Do you have a reservation?" He queried, looking over a list rather diligently.

Jane smiled and put on the best girl voice she could muster. "Uh, y-yes. Table for two under, um, Caur?" Her heart skipped a beat when the man shook his head upon skimming through the entire list. How could that be? Roman said he had already gotten seats for him. Unless... "Perhaps they may be under..." She swallowed audibly, blood rushing to her cheeks in embarrassment. "Janey Waney?" The young writer resisted the urge to storm out of the high class restaurant and strangle Roman where he stood as the waiter's eyes brightened.

"Ah yes, a table for two. Right this way." Jane nodded and followed him through the tables to a window seat upstairs that overlooked quite a large amount of Vale. There were very little customers up here and the area appeared to be of an even higher class than before. How Roman managed to afford these seats was a mystery. "Please sit. Do you wish for some refreshments or are you still waiting for another?" The blond forced a polite smile.

"Um, I'm still waiting for someone, a Miss Fall. I will order when she gets here." At least, she hoped it was a she. It would make for a very awkward night otherwise. Cinder was a girl's name right? "Until then I am content with just water." The waiter nodded curtly and walked off briskly. Jane sighed in relief once he was out of earshot. She really felt out of place in such a posh establishment, there wasn't really much around to pass the time other than her own thoughts.

She thought back to an idea she had realised earlier in terms of her semblance. In combat, the novice knight normally used it to increase perception and speed up thought process to pull off long chains of attacks and blocks, but it also occurred to her that she could augment her reaction time as well. It was an interesting concept, but she would have to wait until the conjoined trip between her, Ruby and Sun's teams. That brought him to his next thought, the trip. Sun definitely wasn't the type to suggest something like that unless he had another plan hidden within, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not considering her childhood friend's personality. Another motive to question was Ozpin. What did he have to gain by notifying Sun of the existence of that facility? In fact, why did he tell Sun and not the teams that actually went to his school? It wasn't as if he knew that Sun would relay it to them, after all he had no idea that someone from Vacuo could know people from Vale well enough. That also begged one more question, what was Ozpin planning?

His thoughts about his enigma of a headmaster was interrupted as a woman approached the table. "Miss Caur I presume?" Putting on his 'Jane' persona he smiled politely and gave a nod. "Perfect, my name is Cinder Fall, it is a pleasure to meet you." Jane gave the older woman a gander and was surprised to find a rather attractive black haired beauty wearing a well fitting red dress. "I've heard a lot about your work." She continued upon taking a seat. "Your writing is very good, almost as if you've experienced everything you write firsthand."

The writer gave an appreciative laugh, "Well, it's always nice to meet a fan." Jane looked over the menu, there were quite a lot of expensive looking meals that she didn't particularly want to waste on the trip back to Beacon. She grimaced at that thought and decided to try find something that would be alright going back out rather than coming in.

Cinder laughed and waved her hand dismissively, a slight shine in her eyes as she observed her date's behaviour. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not a fan, in fact I hadn't read any of your books before a week ago, but I am... interested, in you." Jane's eyes widened as she felt something touch her knee briefly. Some pervert had better not be under the table or they would be in for a surprise.

"So I take it you weren't too pleased with getting third place in the competition? Unless you _wanted_ half a years worth of canned tuna." The two laughed briefly,

"Well you can't say I was disappointed. I have always wanted to meet you ever since I first heard of you." The blond writer shifted uncomfortably as the woman before her gave her a sly look, licking her lips noticeably once the two made eye contact. Surely she wasn't one of... those, types of women right? There was nothing wrong with that, oh no. But there would be dust to pay if she tried to do something to her only to find out that she wasn't a her. "So, what are you thinking of ordering Miss Caur?" Jane shivered at the way her alias rolled off of the woman's tongue. This was not going to end well she knew that for sure. She whimpered slightly as the black haired woman traced her hand along her cheek. It was strangely warm, hot even.

Cinder grinned, taking pleasure in just how submissive the toy knight was being. She could see the hesitance on his eyes, it was almost empowering. She smiled to herself as she feigned looking over the menu to steal a couple of glances at her prey, if she played her cards well enough she would have one more pawn to add to her little game of chess. Who knows, her little pawn might actually promote himself to knight if he did well enough.

"Um, I guess I'll have this soup as my entree and uh..." It was really hard to want to eat something you know you'll only regurgitate in a couple of hours. Such good looking and sounding food was hard to pass up on. "I'll have the burger with a side of chips and salad." Not exactly fine dining, but surprisingly still on the menu. At least she wouldn't feel bad with a dish as plebeian sounding as that.

The breathtaking woman in front of her paid no attention to her internal struggle and called the waiter to order the food. Jane blinked as she heard a string of words she was unable to follow flow out of the woman's mouth as she ordered her dinner. Was that even a food? Or edible? She looked over the menu once more and realised that there were indeed pages upon pages of foods she dared not attempt to say out loud. Her eye twitched at one of the names, it sounded more like a chant to summon some monstrous being than something you'd want to call a food. The knight continued to get lost in the absurdly complex names for what was more than likely a leaf on a plate until a cough caught her attention. That was right, she still had to entertain this woman until the night was over.

"So, what is it like being a renown writer?" Asked Cinder curiously, a playful tone hidden in the edges of her voice. "Anything special you do in your downtime between stories?" She gave a light smiled to the blond girl, "Perhaps maybe learn how to combat Grimm?" Jane laughed nervously,

"Why would I need to learn that? We're in a time of peace and if there's ever trouble the hunters will come protect us." For whatever reason that appeared to strike a chord within the black haired beauty before her. She swallowed lightly at the slight annoyed face of her 'date'. "A-anything else you'd like to know?" Cinder shook off her unwanted thoughts and tapped her chin, a small grin slowly growing.

She put on an 'innocent' tone of voice, "What do you know about Roman Torchwick?" Jane frowned at the question, why did she ask that? The seductress smirked upon seeing her confused expression, "It's a simple question, no need to overthink it."

The young woman nodded slowly, "Well, he's my editor. He lives with my publisher and apparently works with dust in his off time." She said cautiously. Cinder resisted the urge to laugh in a condescending manner at his obliviousness. Did this boy really not watch the news or look at the Internet? Surely he should've realised his 'editor' and his lackey are actually wanted criminals by now. In fact, it was a miracle Roman had lasted this long with the boy. At least she knew the blond was trusting to a fault. "Did I say something funny?" The woman shook her head negative,

"I just think it's cute how dense you are Jane." The writer felt her skin tingle once more with the way the woman said her alias. It both alarmed and intrigued her, which was a dangerous combination when it came to women. "It's rather refreshing seeing someone as trusting as you." The woman in red smirked inwardly, she wouldn't really use the term 'refreshing'. Maybe 'pitiable' would better suit the childish writer.

Jane frowned, what exactly had she meant by that? "Your entree Miss Fall and Miss Caur." The waiter slowly placed the food before the two women and began to pour a bottle of wine into their glasses. She paled a little, _this is worrying_. She was still a minor. The blond woman smiled politely at the waiter and gave her thanks, making sure to move the drink to the side slightly after he left.

Cinder raised a brow at the action, "I take it you're not one for alcohol?" The young writer shrugged,

"I've never had a drink that I enjoyed." She responded truthfully. It was technically true considering she had never had a drink full stop. "So, what do you do for a living?" Cinder smiled dangerously as she took a sip of her wine.

"I'm a criminal." She stated simply. Jane laughed hesitantly, she definitely misheard. The black haired woman raised a brow at the lack of reaction, either she misjudged him or he really was trusting to a fault. Then again, for all she knew the young author was actually aware of and in cahoots with Roman's dust schemes. The woman frowned as she crossed her legs, she hates not knowing everything. "Do you like to play games?" She asked whimsically, the knight nodded enthusiastically.

"Mostly video games, what about you?" She replied, not wanting to reveal too much about her private life.

"I dabble. I do enjoy a good game of chess though. What do you think is the most important piece of the game?" Cinder smirked at the confused gaze of the blond, she may have been right with her initial opinion of him. "I for one think the queen is the best piece. It has the best range and flexibility and inadvertently controls the entire board with its moves." Jane furrowed he brows in thought,

"Honestly if we're talking about usefulness of a piece I'd say the knight would be better. Its usefulness when thinking through strategy is the greatest as it is the one of two pieces that can break the rules and turn the game on it's head." Cinder motioned for him to continue, her interest peaked. "The knight is probably the most unpredictable piece on the board."

The older woman took another sip from her glass, "You mentioned a second piece capable of breaking the game, what is it?" She was curious, other than the knight and queen, what piece carried the functionality to turn a game on its head?

"The pawn." Cinder held back a scoff, the pawn? "You're probably thinking I'm talking about it's ability to promote to any other piece except the king, but there is one key similarity between the pawn and the knight that no other piece share that has the power to decide whether or not a player wins." The young leader paused for effect as she gave the woman before her a smirk, "They're the only two pieces you can move first." It suddenly made sense to the seductress. The first move was always the most crucial and could change a person's entire style of gameplay, defence or offence.

She gave a short laugh, she had indeed misjudged the boy. For all his seemingly predictable exterior, he was actually very tactical in his way of thinking. Jane gulped as Cinder gave her a look. Her spine shivered under her gaze. If she could describe it in one word it would've probably been... hungry. _The food better get here soon or I might end up being dinner._

The two sat in silence as the waiter came in once more with their food. Jane's jaw dropped at the sight of the burger, she wasn't sure what it was but something about it just screamed expensive. It was just a burger, so why did it look like it costed an arm and a leg? She tentatively took a bite out of the inexplicably expensive looking food and nearly teared up at the burst of flavour that seemed to melt in her mouth. She slowly chewed the food to savour the flavour before finally swallowing the expensive burger. This continued for several more minutes until the writer left the plate empty of crumbs and sauce. She spared a glance at whatever Cinder was eating, she hadn't exactly caught the name of it but it sounded fancy and hard to say.

"I didn't exactly get a chance to read your entry. Mind telling me what it was about?" She asked curiously, trying to bring up some small talk now that their meals were done. It wouldn't do to bore the woman. Just like Neo and Nora she looked like she would be dangerous when she was bored.

Cinder gave an enigmatic simper at the blond woman. _Checkmate toy knight_. "I'm sure you've already heard it." Jane gulped audibly as she felt a hand slowly draw circles on her leg. "After all, you were in the crowd as a contestant, weren't you _Mr Jaune Arc_?"

Jaune's eyes widened, "Wh-whatever are you talking about Miss Fall?" He stammered out, "It would be unfair for a professional author to participate in a writing contest meant for amateurs." She chuckled slyly in response to his nervousness,

"Perhaps, my mistake." He let out the breath he hand't realised he had been holding. "Well, we've finished eating, I'm done with my wine and I have an early day tomorrow. Is it alright if you walk me to the airship?" The cross dressing knight gave her a skeptic look out of the corner of his eye as he pretended to look around in interest. He nodded reluctantly.

The two exited the restaurant after Jaune paid for the bill with the money Roman had lent him. He smiled politely at the woman to his right as they walked down the dark empty streets of Vale. Even with the light of the shattered moon the street still seemed eerily dark. The walk to the airship was spent in relative silence. The blond felt reluctant to say anything after she called him by his real name rather than his alias and his experience walking through Vale at night gave him the habit of focusing on being aware.

Once the two reached the airship he gave her one final smile as a goodbye, "I still have business in Vale so this is where we part ways unfortunately. It was a pleasure having dinner with you." _Even if you were practically molesting me half the time._ "Good night Miss Fall." He bowed slightly and turned away. Thank dust that was over-

His eyes widened when he was turned around and pulled closer. He gawked slightly when he saw that Cinder's face was mere inches away from his own. First Coco and now this? Couldn't he just have a break from the embarrassment already? "M-Miss Fall?" She smirked dangerously and swiftly moved her dominant hand. Jaune's jaw dropped as he felt a pressure on his lower region.

"If you don't want me to reveal your secret then don't be surprised the next time we meet." He nodded vehemently, he wasn't exactly in a position to deny her oh so kind proposition. She had him by his balls, both figuratively and literally. "Yes? Good. Remember that." He sighed in relief when she let go of his jewels. He watched as she slowly strut off in the opposite direction. "You belong to me now, toy knight." She called from over her shoulder.

He finally relaxed when she was out of view. "Well... that could've gone better."

* * *

"That could've gone better." Stated Roman simply after the knight relayed the events of his rather interesting date night. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would've been, but it could've been better." Jaune blinked,

"How bad were you expe-" A small tick mark grew when he was interrupted mid sentence.

"Honestly I thought the next time I'd see you would be in pieces at the end of a dark alleyway." Admitted the criminal smoothly, "Thankfully you're still in one piece." He was kidding right?

The blond writer shook the thoughts of getting killed in an alleyway out of his head. A sudden realisation brought him to examine the area around him, only to find a lacking of a certain ice cream. "Where did Neo go?"

Roman scoffed, "Wouldn't you like to know you playboy?" Jaune tilted his head, what was that supposed to mean? The orange haired man rolled his eyes and gestured to the miserable ball of depression to the left of the two. "She's over there." He stated simply.

"What happened to her?" Asked the blond worriedly,

The editor sighed, "The guy she likes went out on a date with another girl." He doubled over in pain when Neo appeared to suddenly teleport in front of him and hit him in the gut with all the force of a train before collapsing back into her ball of depression in the corner.

The novice knight glowered at the air, "Who was stupid enough to not go with Neo? She's like the cutest yet still dangerously sexy girl I kno- dust did I say that out loud?" Roman resisted the urge to wring the boys neck, he called bullshit that the dense brat didn't know he had said that aloud. There was also the glaring fact that Jaune didn't even realise the hint he had placed.

Neo's eyes shined multiple colours as she tackled Jaune to the floor, eyes watering sadly. The young author visibly flinched, he wasn't used to seeing the young looking woman so vulnerable. He smiled warmly at his publisher and wiped a tear off her cheek affectionately, "You shouldn't cry. You look better when you're trying to kick Roman's behind and annoying me into submission." The multicoloured girl gave a small thankful smile and hugged him tightly,

'_Don't you dare tell anyone about this_.' She 'said'. Jaune laughed dismissively, it wasn't like he could tell anyone even if he wanted to. From behind the boy's shoulder the ice cream lover grinned mischievously, unbeknownst to him her plan was working perfectly to get her cute little author to feel sorry for her. All that was left was to get him alone for some pity s-

"So who was the blind dolt? I'll help you kick his teeth in." Roman rolled his eyes, it was more of a blond dolt rather than a blind one. Neo laughed nervously, refusing to tell him, "You're not going to tell me?"

She gave a cheeky grin at the student through her tears, '_Are you perhaps jealous_?' She teased,

Jaune gave the idea some thought before nodding, "Yep." He admitted honestly, throwing the two around him for a loop. Neo flinched backwards, not expecting him to admit it that easily. "When I think that someone's going to try and take my publisher away from me I can't help but get a little envious." Neo blushed as she tried to turn away from the dense boy, he couldn't actually feel that way about her. Well unfortunately she definitely didn't think that way of him. He was just her cute submissive author that she could boss around... and use as a meat shield when there was a thunderstorm.

The two blushed together when their eyes made contact. Blue eyes stared blankly into pink for what felt like hours before they slowly moved closer. Jaune was having a mini heart attack in the back of his mind. He was vaguely aware of what he was doing and was trying everything in his power to stop it as questions bounced around in his head, did he really like Neo in that way? What about Weiss? Before the two could get any closer Roman pulled them apart angrily,

"Sorry to interrupt the two lovebirds but Jaune should really be going now, wouldn't want to miss the last airship to Beacon after all. Toodles!" The man waved goodbye to the boy as he pushed him outside and slammed the door shut. The blond blinked in confusion as he heard the distinct sound of the door locking. He was thankful for the orange haired man's intervention though, he wasn't sure if he was really in control there.

Roman sighed in relief as he wiped some sweat off his brow. That had been... close. He swallowed audibly when he turned to see an absolutely livid Neo. Let it be known there was dust to pay at the residence of the two criminals.

* * *

Pyrrha frowned and hastened her pace, where was her partner? It was getting late. She had been scouring around Beacon for the past hour trying to find the blond boy but couldn't find him anywhere, even the library where he had taken to staying whenever he didn't have classes. She had even tried Cardin's room of all places.

Team RWBY hadn't seen hide not hair of the knight and Sun was nowhere to be found as well, and the young champion still didn't fully trust the monkey Faunus. She grumbled in irritation as she turned the corner, just where was he?

Ruby walked through the halls of Beacon aimlessly. She was bored and hadn't had a cookie in days what with all the commotion as of late. According to Weiss her boredom had begun to affect the 'air' around her and suggested going for a walk, but the reaper knew she just wanted her out of the room so the heiress could feast on her gift from Velvet without feeling guilty about the sheer amount she was eating. Yang had gone dust knows where and Blake was currently reading in the library and having a conversation with Amethyst about the latest book from an author she didn't particularly know or care about. Though the name sounded eerily similar to that of her fellow leader.

The Rose grinned as an idea came to her, why not go find Jaune and get some cookies? Maybe if he felt like it the two could spar for a little. She nodded to herself, it was a sound plan but she had no clue of his whereabouts. Not even Pyrrha knew where the novice knight was currently, and surprisingly he wasn't in the library. Nora and Ren were out getting supplies for ISLOTH so she couldn't really ask them for help in finding their leader.

She maintained a brisk pace as she continued her search for the missing student. What if he went to Vale? There would be no way of finding or contacting him. The red and black haired girl came to a halt and blinked, "Wait, I have his contact details." Considering how often their two teams interacted the leaders believed sharing contact details would be for the best, and in this case it definitely came in handy. The rose jumped on the spot giddy at the thought of more cookies and quickly dialled up her first friend.

"Hello?" Came the distorted voice of the knight from the speaker. Ruby blinked, he sounded pretty worse for wear. "What's up Rubes?" His voice seemed to be pretty sickly through the speaker.

"Are you okay?" She asked curiously only to receive silence as her answer. "If it's a bad time I can call you later?" The young huntress in training leant against the wall,

The blond shook his head despite knowing she was unable to see him, "No it's fine, um, just a little queasy." He explained, feeling the burger from before crawling back up his throat. "Why did you call me? Is something wrong?"

Ruby ignored the questions and asked him her own, "Why are you queasy? Are you on an airship? You went to Vale didn't you?" Jaune flinched at the accusatory tone, what was the problem with heading out to Vale? "Pyrrha's been worried sick about you, and I want you to make cookies and spar with me." _Oh that._ He sighed, after the whole Cardin thing Pyrrha had become a stickler for not keeping secrets around each other and telling the other if there was a problem. Which he was abiding to horribly, not that the red haired champion knew.

"Wait, why do you want to spar?" He said warily. She wasn't mad at him right? Over the months he had learnt that if a girl wanted to spar with you that meant they were going to take out their anger with their fists or mechanical shifting weapons, whatever was more convenient at the time.

Ruby shrugged, "I want to see how far you've come Vomit Boy, and I also want to get a little bit of training in... before we go train." That had made a lot more sense in her head. "So what time will you be back?" Silence. "Jaune?"

"Oh thank dust we've landed." The writer laughed loudly in relief and collapsed on the ground, causing the girl on the other side of the call to jump at the sudden noise. "We aren't leaving until later tomorrow so we can spar then, if you need me I'll be sleeping. And could you tell Pyr to come back to our room so I can apologise to her?" The rose was silent for a moment before accepting his decision, there was still plenty of time before they would leave the next day. Though he owed her even more cookies now.

As the call ended the blond knight groaned. He really needed to start notifying his partner when he'd be out for a while. She was kind enough to help him train to be adequate and yet all he's done in return is make her worry over him. The hunter in training shook his head, he'd make it up to her somehow. Jaune gave a small smile and made a mental note, if he could become equal to other first year students in a one on one match by the end of the training trip, without the use of his semblance, then it would be worth it. Then afterwards he could find a way to make it up to Pyrrha. "Maybe she'd like to keep the SS. John Ark." He muttered to no one in particular. In any case, he needed to get back and have a shower before he apologised.

He rolled on the ground lazily in a feeble attempt to get up only for his arms to collapse from under him. This was going to take a while.

* * *

"How do you know Jaune is back at our dorm room?" Asked Pyrrha skeptically several minutes later. She had checked there not too long ago and the blond student was nowhere to be found.

Ruby tapped her hand as she recounted events, "Well I called him on my scroll-" The champion blinked, _why does Ruby have his contact details?_ "and after a short exchange he told me to tell you he'll be waiting for you at the room to apologise for making you worry." _Apologise?_ A thought occurred to the spartan girl that slowly snowballed down to an embarrassing one. _What if he is willing to do anything to make up for it? _She blushed at the implications, maybe she could... _Wait, w__hat if he's already planning to apologise that way?_ The image of a half-naked Jaune laying on a bed surrounded by candles filled her mind before she could stop it, causing a small trickle of blood to escape her nose. "Pyrrha are you alright?"

The girl turned to the innocent reaper with a look of exhaustion, "I think I've spent too much time around your sister." She replied before beginning the short walk to her room, ready to forgive the blond knight and just get to sleep as soon as possible. Imagination was one scary thing.

Ruby nodded, "I'm sure anyone that has met her even once can attest to that." She admitted under her breath. "Well, see you tomorrow!" Pyrrha smiled and gave a half-hearted wave to the younger girl. Sighing as she faced the direction of her dorm room she steeled her nerves, wiping the excess blood from her nose. There was no way Jaune would do any of the things she was currently in the midst of imagining... right?

She slowly opened the door, "J-Jaune, are you there?" She called out tentatively. The red haired girl jumped slightly as his voice echoed from the eerily dark room.

"Pyr is that you? Could you help me?" Cried the knight. The champion opened the door fully to see a half clothed Jaune in a pitch black room on the bed in a fairly provocative position. "Thanks, I was having a shower when all the lights suddenly cut and I couldn't find the light switch or my scroll for any sort of light." Explained the blond from the bed. "Um, I kind of got tangled in the bed sheets in the dark. Don't ask how. Could you help?" He probably looked pathetic in his current state. What kind of hunter in training gets incapacitated by a couple of sheets? "P-Pyrrha?"

He rolled around on the bed in a feeble attempt to get a view off his partner only to see her unconscious form. This was going to take a while.

"Ren and Nora had better get back soon. It's starting to get cold in these sheets."

* * *

**As the days pass our dense protagonist's one weakness appears to worsen each time he becomes exposed to it and for the first time a person has 'figured out' Jane Caur's true identity. What is Cinder scheming and what is Ozpin up to? ****Next chapter we see our group of intrepid students go through their first day of training at the facility.**

**Well, I don't think I made it in time for Christmas but I tried. Unfortunately family takes priority over writing so it is out a little later than I had hoped. Anyway, we got some pairing moments and plot in there so all's good. To think, this is the last chapter for 2015. It's been a good year, had several highs and lows. I'll see you all next year then in the next chapter, look forward to it!**

**Those who spot a specific reference get a fancy burger meal!**


	19. Chapter 19- Just Another Day at Beacon

**Hello and welcome back! We are slowly climbing the ranks in RWBY Fanfiction so highfives all around! For a first fanfic this is doing even better than I could ever imagine, so hopefully I don't become a one hit wonder and fail when I get around to writing another… **

**In other news, Happy New Year! First chapter for 2016 so I guess I need to make it count. Hopefully you've all had a good start to the new year and continue to have a great year. Here's to 2016!**

**Reviews!**

**LaughingLefou:** His luck isn't going to get any better. At all. RIP Jaune. Then again, it's all up to the way you see it. Something bad to one might be something good to another.  
P.S. I like your stories.

**StygianSloth:** Thank you, and Happy New Year!

**NinjaFang1331:** Thanks!

**Dutoc:** Oh well, it's Jaune's incompetence that makes him such a popular character.

**thehidden6lade: **Merry –_holiday season-_ to you too.

**Amvmaster:** Well, in this chapter he realises something if that makes you feel any better.

**garoorar:** Man… you're probably going to enjoy the later chapters. Maybe. Also yes, Neo is cute.

**dracohalo117:** Hopefully this chapter meets expectations.

**SMxABULM:** Thank you, Happy New Year!

**Zyxis Ouroboros ReArchtypist:** Um, good?

**duskrider:** Thanks!

**Lt. Darkhound:** Yes. Yes he is.

**DarkElucidator:** I don't blame you, there was a _really_ obscure one and a well hidden one.

**CrazyTrollR49:** Thank you. Yes, I will try to give those teams a _little_ more screen time and Qrow and Winter will be in the story, whether it's earlier or later is yet to be seen. Merry –_holiday season- _to you too.

**CC-2224 Commander Cody:** Glad to see you enjoy my sense of humour and my story, hope it continues to make you laugh.

**Arbl A-17:** Well here it is, hope you like it.

**meep fanmeepster (Guest):** Well, hopefully it was worth the wait. About the omake idea; I don't think I'm going to do something like that unfortunately. After all, them finding out is the end game of this story. Except for Sun of course, he'll be the comedy relief.

**Disclaimer: It's 2016 and I still don't own RWBY or any franchises I allude to within any chapters. No matter how much I'd like to.**

* * *

Chapter 19- Just Another Day at Beacon Academy

3 hours. It had taken _three hours_ for Nora and Ren to arrive back at the dorm room and find a way to untangle him from his web of bed sheets. Thankfully Ren was not the type to pry and did not question what had happened, something he had learnt from having to deal with Nora on a daily basis. Anyway, in those three hours Jaune realised a few things. One; bed sheets were a surprisingly formidable opponent, and two, Sun was trying to get in with Blake.

It was hard to believe but what could he say? Three hours is a long time to think. And in that time, his thoughts travelled from one thing to the next. What caused Pyrrha to fall unconscious earlier? Why did those people at the docks seem so familiar? What should he write about next? What do Blake and Yang like best about his books? Does Blake have a tail along with her ears? Why was Sun so keen about Blake coming with them? Then it kind of just snowballed from there.

He laughed to himself, fully intent on ignoring Professor Port's boasti- _lecture_. How could he have been so oblivious? He chuckled silently and swivelled his head around his palm to the silent beauty, Sun had a _long_ road ahead of him if he wanted to court the black haired bookworm. She was introverted, independent, wary, silent, cynical, sharp-tongued and a little obsessive over the things she liked from time to time. Though the blond knight could definitely see what his childhood friend saw in the girl, and it wasn't just because "-she's more beautiful than the most fragile flora in the palest moonlight." He blinked upon realising that he had earned the looks of the students around him, namely Yang, Weiss, Nora and Ren. "Dust, did I say that out loud?… again?" Yang snickered,

"Wow Vomit Boy. Never knew you were such a poet, no wonder you get top marks in literature." Teased the blond from Team RWBY. "You're really head over heels for Princess here aren't 'ya?" Weiss blushed, muttering about blond dolts under her breath.

Jaune laughed nervously, "Y-yeah, I was talking about Snow Angel, definitely." His normally stoic teammate raised an eyebrow at the 'conviction' in his voice, but otherwise said nothing about the blatant lie. "So… speaking of literature, we have that next right?" Nora groaned in an un-Nora like fashion.

"Ugh, don't remind me. That class is almost as boring as that strategy and tactics class all the leaders have to take." Complained the Valkyrie, losing some of her upbeat nature. The young writer sighed sadly, _way to belittle the two classes I'm actually good at Nora..._

A sudden realisation knocked him out of his state immediately, "Wait, how do you know how boring the leader classes are?" The sloth lover grinned at him, choosing not to answer. "... You were the one that stole the Professor's pancakes that one class weren't you?" Nora giggled as she leaned onto Ren's back.

"Well, they were just asking for it by having an entire lecture be about staying vigilant in the field! They were so engrossed in the speech they didn't even notice me taking a few from them." She stated childishly. Ren sighed, rubbing the girl's head affectionately eliciting a faint blush from her.

"Nora. No pancakes for two days." Jaune shuffled gently towards Yang upon hearing the punishment, letting Ren deal with the storm that was sure to ensue. The young woman smirked at the subtle action, bringing her arm around him to pull him closer to her much to his dismay.

The novice knight blushed heavily upon coming into contact with the side of her... assets. "W-what's up Yang?" He spewed out between nervous stutters. The blond boxer just shot him a friendly wink,

"You obviously weren't paying attention in class so I thought I'd lend you my notes." Jaune blinked, Yang actually took notes? In Professor Port's class? "Just know that these don't come free Vomit Boy." _Oh dear dust, what does she want now?_ Though if she really _was_ listening to Port's speech then the notes would come in handy. The portly and not so humble professor was the type of teacher that would hint at the important things to note for upcoming essays or tests. Unfortunately these important notes were hidden within his ramblings better than eggs on Easter. It was hard to listen for five minutes before getting bored.

The hunter in training shot her a look, "What do you want in exchange then?" The girl grinned and tapped her chin in faux thought, adding a small hmm to accompany it. Jaune winced when her face brightened considerably, this was not going to end well.

"Two things." She stated simply, holding up the same amount of fingers for effect. "I want your help on the upcoming Literature essay." He nodded at the request as it seemed doable. "And two-" the writer yelped silently as she pulled him towards her face by his tie, a hair's width of space between the two. _This has been happening a lot to me recently, and I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing._ Commented the knight mentally. "I want you, Jaune Arc, to go on a date with me." She finished with a smirk.

"... I, uh, pardon?" Was his oh-so-smart reply. "I don't think that's a good trade at all." Dealing with Yang for an entire day would be... a bit too much for him to handle.

The hot headed girl pouted, "Are you saying you don't wanna go out with me Lady Killer?" She not-so-gently nudged him with her elbow, "C'mon, you went out with Blake." The blond shook his head vehemently in denial, hoping the girl wasn't offended by what was essentially a rejection.

He laughed nervously, "No I mean, it's too good of a deal on my side. Uh, help in studies and a date with such a beautiful woman is a bit too much... right?" _Please don't murder me, please don't murder me, please don-_

Yang smirked, "Alright, then we'll just say you owe me one Vomit Boy." Jaune sighed in relief once the bell went, signifying the end of the current lesson. "See you next period, and I'm lookin' forward to that date." She sent another wink and a wave his way as she exited the room, "Also, you didn't deny going out with Blake." She added from the doorway before taking her leave.

After a moment of silence a dull thud echoed around the nearly empty classroom. The blond groaned in pain, having swung his head at the table in dismay with all the force he could muster. An entire day of having to deal with _that._ It was going to be exhausting to say the least. Fun, exciting and happy, but exhausting. "Good job." Congratulated the stack of broken pieces of furniture to his left. "You got a date with what most males consider to be one of the hottest girls in our year."

Jaune stared blankly at the large mess of wooden furniture stuck together with pink glitter glue. "... Ren is that you? What happened-" He paused mid-sentence, "-Nora?"

The pile nodded despite the glitter glue, "Nora."

Jaune sighed, he really needed to find a way to get his hyperactive teammate under control somehow before she destroys the school... more than she already had this year. "By the way, do you know what text we're 'analysing' next for Literature?" The pile of furniture said nothing in return for a few seconds. A single broken table in the top left shifted down slightly to allow a novella to boomerang through into the blond writer's grasp. The knight blinked. Then rubbed his eyes. Then blinked again. A single thought flew around his head as he held a copy of one of his books in his hands, _I am going to ace this_.

* * *

Jaune's eye twitched in annoyance as he made his way to Goodwitch's combat class, feeling more than a little ireful. "Now I _know_ teachers were making up crap when they talked about the 'literary techniques' in the books. When I wrote 'the curtains were blue', I wasn't indirectly implying that the main character was feeling sad and isolated from the outside. I was _directly stating_ that the curtains were blue!" He grumbled to himself, losing a little respect for the class. The displeased muttering continued until the upset knight finally made it to the room.

"Students, today we will be having two separate practical lessons. Leaders, you will be having mock tournament style battles to familiarise yourself with the rules and create strategies needed for your team to secure victory." Explained Goodwitch, glaring at the few students who had dared to arrive late to _her_ class. "As for everyone else, you will be placed into groups to practice fighting with people whom you've likely never fought with before." The group of students cheered, exchanging high fives and greetings as they were separated into their sparring partners and teams.

Ruby grinned and hefted Crescent Rose onto her shoulder, sending a look to her fellow leader across the arena. Looked like they would be getting their spar earlier than they thought. "Go easy on me." She teased. Jaune mentally rolled his eyes, _I should be saying that to you_. "Let's go Vomit Boy!" Strategically speaking, Ruby was one of the worst types of opponents he could go against. She not only had a mid and long range, but also had the speed to break through his defence and recover from blocks before he could capitalise on it. Not only that, but he can't use his semblance on something he can't touch and enhanced senses won't exactly work. If he could disarm her though, it would be his win.

Knowing Ruby's personality the knight moved into a steady position, ready to block her semblance infused first strike. The two stood still as they listened to the timer tick slowly, the light ready to go green at any moment. The reaper smirked while she got ready to run in for the first hit, she knew it was predictable of her but that didn't mean he had any way of capitalising on it.

The second the green light shone the red haired girl hastily went on the offensive to gain the upper hand. The first attack was easily blocked by the young writer as he had been ready for it, but everything from then on though was anyone's guess. The sheer speed and momentum of the first strike had been enough to knock him back slightly while Ruby sped on past him, using the momentum to fuel a swing at his exposed back. The knight cried out as it scored a clean hit, he had definitely been right about her speed being too much for him to keep up with. He hurriedly pivoted on the spot to face the Rose as she leapt backwards to get a little space. Jaune frowned as she went for another dash attack, he stealthily activated his semblance. He really needed to get a handle on her speed soon or he wouldn't last another minute. Although time appeared to slow by a smidgen with the combined efforts of adrenaline and his semblance, it meant nothing since he couldn't react fast enough.

The harsh clang of metal hitting metal reverberated throughout the room as Crescent Rose bounced off of the collapsible shield. The girl used the bounce momentum to swing around for another diagonal cut. The students in the stands watched as the girl was definitely on the winning end, repeatedly swinging the oversized gardening tool at the knight, not even bothering to use the gun function at such a close range. Jaune swore mentally as he felt the wind rush past his head, barely avoiding a debilitating blow from the reaper's weapon. Ruby had the upper hand with a mid ranged weapon and she was milking it for all it was worth with her consecutive attacks.

Once more the Rose went for a dash attack to break his guard and create an opening. He was so glad he had a shield. He grimaced when she went for another scythe spin combo. She would have a lot of dairy for her cookies with all the milking she was doing currently. Jaune blinked in sudden realisation, cookies? The momentary lapse of vision was enough for the girl to press her advantage and knock the shield out of his hand. The audience gulped for the blond student, it didn't look good for him.

The young knight smirked, "Did you eat those cookies I baked for you earlier Rubes?" he asked suddenly. The black haired girl gave him a confused glance but nodded nonetheless, how could she say no to cookies? His smirk evolved into a cocky grin, "Perfect." He leapt back and closed his eyes, focussing his aura into his semblance and upping his hearing and sense of smell. If he couldn't react fast enough to his eyes, maybe his nose would do better. _Here's to hoping at least_.

Ruby faltered at his grin, he had even closed his eyes! _What is he planning?_ She skillfully spun Crescent Rose around her into an idle position, a frown plastered on her face. He was obviously baiting her into attacking through melee. Her small hands clenched harder around the scythe, she had no choice but to attack from a range. Though it was probably for the best considering he didn't have his shield on him. The knight grinned upon hearing the distinct sound of her anchoring the scythe to the ground. "Here we go." He muttered under his breath.

The blond had seen it when he was delving through her personality on the first night he had met her, the weaknesses of her and Crescent Rose. "Number one, to fire the rifle without recoil the blade must be planted firmly within the ground." He quickly ran in the direction that smelled of cookies, rolling to the right and left when he heard the sound of a gunshot. "Number two, once it has been anchored the rifle cannot be aimed horizontally." The blond winced upon receiving a bullet to the left wrist. She was using less powerful bullets so as to not hurt him as much, but they still did a number on his aura and would obviously have more frequent hits the closer he got to her due to there being less time to react. The problem was, he had to keep to a fairly linear path or Ruby would either adjust her strategy by going for close combat or realise that he knew her weakness.

Ruby on the other hand was beginning to suspect something. In the back of her mind niggling doubt was slowly growing, did he know about her precious weapon's weakness? It was obvious, but still something no one would notice unless given proper thought. Since she decided to incorporate the force behind the recoil into her fighting style, she would be unable to fire in one spot unless she anchored Crescent Rose. That then meant she also had a limited horizontal deviation with it solely relying on where the bullets list off to during flight. She frowned as the blond slowly got closer, stubbornly refusing to believe Jaune of all people had figured out the weakness of her baby.

"Number three, due to needing to be embedded deeply within the ground to prevent recoil the blade cannot be easily uprooted." He was glad that Ruby was the stubborn little hooded girl she was or his plan would never had worked. By the time he had gotten close enough it was too late for her to take her beloved weapon out of the ground. Instead she fired one last bullet. The younger writer took the bullet head on before leaping over the grounded weapon and tackling the younger girl.

The buzzer sounded, signifying the end of the round and allowing for cheers to flow from the stand. Even the other students who were sparring in teams had stopped to watch the two and were applauding at the effort. The reaper pouted, "I can't believe I lost Vomit Boy." Jaune sighed and shook his head, pointing to the monitor.

"Winner Ruby Rose as her opponent's aura has reached the red." The leader of Team RWBY blinked and turned to the large monitor to see that Jaune's aura was indeed in the red, with hers only down by a fraction due to the constant use of her semblance and the tackle at the end. The girl frowned, if he was a Grimm it wouldn't stop just because he was weak, she wouldn't have won.

Jaune laughed, he couldn't believe he had actually pulled off that manoeuvre. He smirked and held out a hand to his first friend, "Nice fight." Ruby smiled slightly, accepting the hand of her fellow leader.

"If this had been a serious match you would've won." She stated, giggling as he pulled her to her feet. The blond shook his head negative,

"Had this been a serious match you would've used higher calibre bullets, not underestimated me, and wouldn't have just focussed on whittling my aura down with consecutive attacks. It's your win fair and square." Jaune grinned once the girl sighed in reluctant acceptance. He still had a long ways to go, but he was slowly making his way to their level. Sure he had to resort to using his semblance and info he gained by using his semblance beforehand, but that was like complaining about Ruby using her semblance in her attacks or Blake using her semblance to escape attacks.

Upon arriving back at the stands Jaune was unsurprised to see that Nora and Pyrrha had already finished their team matches. Nora smiled widely at the blond, "Fearless leader Jaune Jaune Arc! That was an amazing battle!" She cheered happily. Pyrrha nodded with a warm smile,

"Indeed, you have certainly improved since the start of the year." Commended the champion proudly. Her partner grinned at the praise, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "If you keep up that progress you might someday be able to beat me."

The novice knight immediately deadpanned, "Alright you don't have to lie to my face." The red haired girl sighed, if only he'd get over that negativity streak. "Where's Ren?" Nora quickly pointed in the direction of her partner and childhood friend. Currently the stoic male was still fighting, having been paired up with Dove Bronzewing of CRDL. The two were facing a pair of students that Jaune didn't know, but he was sure he had seen the male one in the cafeteria once or twice before.

"Go Renny!" Cheered the hammer meister as she waved to him. Jaune paled as he heard the sound of a familiar pair of footsteps from behind him.

"Students, if you are finished with your spars you are free to begin another fight, stay here and observe other matches or leave to catch up with other work." Stated Goodwitch as she approached the students watching the matches. A few began to leave to do as she said, but most stayed to enjoy the fights. The blond teacher turned her eyes to her _favourite_ student. "I do believe you still have that written work about safety around dust you need to hand me Mr Arc after the little... mishap with Miss Schnee." The boy smiled politely and nodded,

"Y-Yep! I'm doing it, in fact I'm nearly done!" He laughed nervously, who was he kidding? He hadn't even started thanks to all the events that had happened recently. Glynda gave him a look, pushing her glasses further up.

"Is that so? Then you wouldn't be against handing it over to me by the end of today." Jaune gulped, _today?_ "Unless, you were lying about the amount of progress you have made?" He paled further, shaking his head vehemently. "Perfect, I will see you at my office then." The buzzer sounded to inform the deputy of the end of another match between leaders. "Winner Sun Wukong through ring out!" She exclaimed loudly while walking back to the arena.

The young author released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. The woman scared him more than a Deathstalker. "You haven't done anything have you." It was more of a statement than a question from the red haired champion. The blond hunter in training sighed, nodding sadly. Pyrrha's cheeks tinted a light shade of pink, _here it goes_. She mentally psyched herself up, "If you want, I could maybe help you with-"

"Jaune, let's go." Before the two knew what had happened he was halfway to the door, being dragged by the hood of his jacket by an unknown student. He yelped loudly when the two walked down a flight of stairs. In his case though it wasn't walk, more so painful backwards tobogganing. Without the toboggan but still just as much screaming. It didn't even take five minutes to get to the library from the arena, which was a new record for the knight. "Alright, the library's closed but I got Amethyst to let us in so we could get this over and done with." He still couldn't see his abductor due to them being behind him but if he had to go by voice it would more than likely be

"Blake what are you doing? That hurt!" He complained, rubbing his sore back, legs and neck. It wasn't everyday you get dragged down stairs while being choked so forgive him for not being used to the pain. The girl rolled her eyes, not that he could see.

She gave him a pointed look as she spun him around on the swivel chair. "Get over it you baby, you've been through worse." The questioning look he gave her was turned to one of embarrassment with her answer, "You got your ass kicked by a girl practically half your size."

The blond growled indignantly at the black haired introvert. "Hey, she was up to my shoulders and you know it!"

"She was wearing heels." She pointed out with a smirk. Jaune stayed silent, knowing fighting a losing battle would be pointless. Especially against Blake. The girl swapped her crossed legs around and leaned back, taking out a book of what he assumed to be one of his. He sent a look which he was sure she ignored but otherwise didn't comment on her relaxed posture. "If you really want me to make up for kidnapping you from your partner I'll help you out with that written work Goodwitch wanted. Now, any questions about the Faunus before I start lecturing you?" He closed his eyes in thought, trying to bring to mind anything that could help him with his next story. She suppressed a smirk when he crossed his arms to go deeper into thought.

"Just a few." He replied. "So, do Faunus have another plural for them? Because saying _the_ Faunus sounds a little derogatory and just saying Faunus doesn't cut it sometimes." Blake blinked silently, it was an unusually perceptive remark he had made and something she herself hadn't put much thought into. Before she could give him her answer however, he was already onto the next question. "And is the 'fur' on your ears actually fur or is it just really, really, really soft hair? Like, seriously it felt great when I touched it. Speaking of ears, do you have extra sensitive hearing because you have two pairs of ears? Do Faunus have more than one appendage from their animal counterpart? Like, does Velvet have a puffy tail? Are all Faunus' ears as soft as yours?" The bookworm had to double take at the Nora-like string of words and questions flowing from the writer's mouth. This was going to take a while.

* * *

If one asked Glynda to describe her thoughts on Jaune Arc she would roll her eyes and simply say "At least he arrives on time." She had nothing against the poor boy. He was clumsy and had just as much of a penchant for trouble as Nora and Team RWBY, but he was also polite, deceptively wise and hard working... At least on the subjects he cared for. On top of all the 'positive' things about the knight was his punctuality. Unbeknownst to the witch this habit had been born out of his need to consistently meet deadlines, but that wasn't important. Because of this one could argue that on the rare chance the blond boy was late with something, there was obviously a problem that was normally caused by the student's one other major flaw. His terrible luck. Even she, who didn't normally believe of the sorts, could accept the idea of his less than favourable luck.

She sighed and continued grading the recent tests. What had brought this train of thought to mind was the fact that the unlucky knight was late with his written piece. The only reason she hadn't decided to find the boy and drag him by the ear to detention was the Nora-like maniacal laughter, explosions and screams coming from the opposite side of the school for the past hour. Knowing the tardy student had no-doubt gotten caught up in the antics of the destructive force that was Nora Valkyrie, she decided to let him off for the time being.

The piercing sound of a female student in danger echoed throughout her office, disturbing her train of thought. "Definitely Jaune." She stated amusedly. Maybe she'd wait an extra hour before she stepped in... to see how it plays out of course. Definitely not as retribution for lying to her earlier. Glynda Goodwitch was definitely not the type of woman to make hundreds suffer for the karmic comeuppance of one student. She contentedly took a sip from the coffee of a certain doctor who had spilled some on her previously, and was no doubt rampaging on the opposite side of the school to the Valkyrie if the screams of terror and sound of desperate running were any clue.

Life was good for the blond deputy right now.

Suddenly the speaker crackled to life all too soon, "Glynda, if you could sort out the two disasters occurring currently on the opposite sides of Beacon I would be very grateful." The witch rolled her eyes, he wouldn't make her miss out on the comeuppance of the guilty and nothing he could say would change her mind. "Unless of course, you _want_ more paperwork to deal with. Maybe the size of this bill for destruction will only be half of the day Nora released her sloths on the school." The woman paled at the thought. That day had wrought several hundreds of assets destroyed and lawsuits filed, and that was just what Nora had done.

"You win this time Ozpin." She muttered to herself. One day Ozpin would get his comeuppance, and it would be glorious. Until then however, she will listen and obey the headmaster. Let it be known that Glynda Goodwitch was not one to let a person who had wronged her go without any consequences.

* * *

Jaune felt a shiver roll down his spine, and it wasn't just because Nora had locked him in the freezer with Yang, Blake and Sun whilst yelling 'Death penalty to the blonds!' When Blake asked why she was included the sloth lover responded by saying she was an accomplice because she had a thing for the three of them. This left an awkward wait for rescue.

The blond knight blushed from behind the blond boxer while she and the blond monkey grinned at the black haired introvert. "Who knew Blake had a thing for blonds. You should've told me before we were given the death sentence hun, would've made for one hell of a goodbye party~" teased her partner with a wink, causing the girl to blush and shuffle away. Sun sent a confused glance in the direction of the door, did stuff like this always occur around Beacon?

He grinned along with his fellow blond, "So Blake, what are you going to be working on when we get to the training facility?" She shrugged in response. She hadn't given much thought to the training trip, not after the whole fiasco at the docks. She still couldn't grasp the idea of the White Fang working with Roman Torchwick, a human, and that blue haired guy and his brunette lackey, also humans. Adam would never resort to working with humans, she knew that much, so what was going on? She needed to get to the bottom of it and fast.

"How long are we going to be at the facility for?" Questioned the mentally preoccupied Faunus. Sun shrugged,

"I was thinking about a week or so, it really just depends. There will be quite a bit of students so a handful of teachers are apparently coming to ensure nothing happens according to what your headmaster told me." Jaune frowned, why did Ozpin choose to confide this information to someone who wasn't from Beacon instead of the students who are? Although he was fairly curious as to what the cryptic headmaster was planning, a more evident problem was at hand. They wouldn't be able to even start the trip if they were locked in the freezer. Under normal circumstances Yang would be able to break it down with her inhuman strength, but this wasn't normal circumstances. Not only was it cold, Yang didn't have Ember Celica on her and recently the freezer door had been enhanced to prevent people -namely Nora- from stealing food.

And thus the three blonds and their associate/'love interest according to Nora' were trapped in the frozen prison that was the school freezer. At least until someone lets them out or Nora releases them of their death sentence in a show of mercy. He placed his bets on the former.

In the meantime Blake had to slowly inch away from the two blonds hammering her with questions about her sexual preferences. Thankfully the third one seemed to be visibly sane. She had no clue what was currently running through that brain of his, but at least it wasn't likely to be whether or not she liked to use her ribbon to dominate. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Sun and Yang were too focussed around arguing about Blake preferring to be in control or dominated to notice the subject of their argument making her way to the more 'innocent' blond in the room. She knew he read books with smut trickled in, that was why they hung out in the library with Yang from time to time, but he still couldn't be as bad as the buxom boxer or her male equivalent. Luckily she didn't know that Jaune had been the one to write those books or she would give up on blonds not being perverts. That or jump him on the spot, it really depended.

"So... you never told me who that Faunus was." Started the black haired introvert casually. Conversations were not exactly her strong point. Jaune nodded absentmindedly, more focussed on his thoughts than the current events. After a couple seconds of listening to Yang and Sun argue about dust knows what, it finally ticked.

"Wait, what Faunus?" He responded. The bookworm gave him a look, late reactions?

She let a small smile encompass her face. "When I asked for a reason to teach you about the Faunus you told me that there was a Faunus girl you were interested in." The reaction from the blond knight caused her small smile to escalate into an amused smirk, she was sure if he had been drinking something he would have done a spit take. "Does that mean you've given up on your 'Snow Angel'?" Given the noticeable finch the young boy had just answered with, she may have taken the teasing a little too far.

He sighed tiredly, "I don't know." He answered simply. Quite a lot had been on his mind after the whole Alice incident and he wasn't entirely sure _what_ he felt currently for the white haired heiress. It was confusing to think about her. Whenever he saw her he thought of the innocent smiling face of Alice, but whenever he saw Alice he thought about the cold yet caring face of Weiss. Who knew two people being in one body would be so confusing? Though it kind of reminded him about a book...

"So who is the lucky girl?" Continued the cat Faunus in an attempt to cheer up her book buddy. _Note to self, Weiss seems to currently be a rough subject for him_. As of late the blond hunter in training had been acting different, with the issue seemingly circling around that one trip to Vale the knight and the heiress had several days ago. It was fairly worrying, but none of her business. It may seem rather self-centered for her to say, but it was comforting knowing that there was someone other than her who preferred to keep their problems to themselves. Case and point what he was doing right now.

Jaune looked away nervously, suddenly interested in the argument between his fellow blonds. How was he supposed to respond? He couldn't tell her that it had been a joke or she'd murder him, and he couldn't tell her the real reason or Yang might overhear and, well, he might not make it out of the freezer alive. Speaking of which, there was no sign of rescue from their icy punishment but at least the heated debate between Sun and Yang about... Blake's sexual preferences?... was keeping them warm.

"Do I know her?" Silence from the knight. "Is she a student at Beacon?" More silence. "Is it Velvet?" He blushed, Velvet? What gave her that idea? Sure she was cute and the accent was pretty soothing, but he'd rather not deal with the wrath of Coco. Especially if the stuff she told him about her handbag was true. "Who is it Jaune?"

Why was she being so pushy? It's not like knowing would change anything. "I'd rather not say around those two." He admitted, actively keeping his voice low. "Dust knows I'd never hear the end of it." The introverted girl stayed silent for a few moments to size him up but ultimately accepted his reason.

She sighed in reluctant defeat. He had better not be pulling her tail and lying to her, after all it wasn't every day she saw a human gain a romantic interest in a Faunus. To her it was all the more symbolic that he would possibly choose a Faunus girl over a Schnee. Don't get her wrong, she has nothing against Weiss. But the things she had learnt from her days in the White Fang were a little hard to get rid of so easily. The ninja cat still couldn't get over her habit of walking around silently. Either way, it was thanks to all of her... friends, that she had gained over the course of her time at Beacon that she was starting to gain hope once more about a time of peace between humans and Faunus. Unfortunately the introduction of Roman Torchwick and his lackeys brought that hope back to square one.

It was bugging her that she had no answers regarding not only the identity of the two followers of the admittedly well dressed criminal, but that she couldn't think of a single reason as to why Adam would accept the help of a human. It just seemed illogical to her. You never put 'Adam' and 'human' in the same sentence unless there is a 'kills the' between them. That was just common sense, an obvious rule of the universe, like gravity. So for Adam, the human hating man that he is, to work with a human, something BIG must have happened. The question was, what?

Her thoughts about her ex-partner in literal crime and the Orange haired criminal were derailed when the freezer door burst open with a loud metallic clang, freeing the four students from their gelid death sentence. The four felt a gust of warm air envelop them as the cold escaped from the freezer. "Are you students okay?" Queried the deputy as she entered the food storage, waving away the frozen mist with her riding crop. "Oh, it's just you four." Jaune deadpanned, _what's with that uncaring attitude?_

Yang pouted, "Aww, I was just about to huddle up with Blake for warmth too." She complained, sending a mischievous wink the bookworm's way. The black haired introvert blushed but made an effort to not be outwardly effected by her teasing. "Or maybe Lady Killer could've kept me warm. What do you think?" Jaune blushed, trying to copy the ninja Faunus but ultimately failing at concealing his emotions. Noticing the weakness in her prey, the predator quickly pounced for her daily meal of teasing. "C'mere Vomit Boy, I'll keep you warm~"

"Yang we've been saved already!" Cried the helpless knight. He called out for help from his childhood friend only to find an outline of dust where the monkey Faunus used to be. Seeing his only hope left was an inch away from laughing her ass off he silently mouthed 'help me!'

Unfortunately his last hope responded with, 'better you than me'.

Glynda sighed, "Just... get out of the freezer already. I need to address your sloth loving friend and her current war with Bartholomew." Her eye twitched when she realised that none of the three made a move to listen to her order. In fact the blond boxer had started- "Miss Xiao Long, stop sexually assaulting your classmate!" Growled the teacher as she pulled her away from the lucky/unlucky boy, earning a whine from the girl.

Jaune shuddered as the blond woman took the young student away. "I can never get married now." He muttered silently to himself. Blake watched the scene with a confused stare and utterly defeated sigh._ Isn't it normally the other way around?_ "This is your fault!" He cried, pointing directly at the silent beauty. Her fault? Yang was the one who did it, sure she watched it happen but- "You need to take responsibility." He declared with finality.

One would think the level-headed, introverted, silent beauty that was Blake Belladonna would be above being a closet pervert with a dirty mind. Unfortunately that was not the case as the black themed ninja Faunus was suddenly blown back by a cliche nosebleed, much to the blond knight's confusion. Jaune, being the dense, optimistic, trusting, glass-half-full kind of guy he is, instead of thinking bad of the girl, chose to carry her unconscious form out of the freezer. After all, Blake wasn't dirty minded like her partner, she only read his books for the plot.

He took in a deep breath, revelling in the silence. It had been a long day, and it was still only 4 in the afternoon. Thankfully, all that was left was packing for the trip to the facility and then maybe spending an hour or two training. He hadn't remembered to ask what the name of it was. It would've been much easier than continuously saying 'the training facility' and 'training trip'.

He stared blankly at the admittedly cute sleeping form of the black haired girl the organiser of the trip had his eyes on. "She's going to hate me for this." He thought to himself, grinning mischievously as he brought out his trusty pen pointer. He couldn't resist, just like with Weiss it was going to be funny- no _hilarious_.

* * *

Blake was unamused, huffing with an uncharacteristic pout as she took a seat on the airship with her luggage. _Someone_ had drawn cat whiskers on her in her sleep and while she wasn't mad at the anonymous _blond_ person, she was still mildly perturbed at the unknown _knight_. In fact, she hadn't noticed it until Yang pointed it out by keeling over in laughter.

Jaune groaned as he walked on-board, knowing that the next half-hour was going to be very bad for his stomach. Luckily for him Blake hadn't realised who drew on her and _hadn't_ just punched him in the gut. He also definitely wasn't doubled over in pain as he entered the flying death trap.

Nora grinned as she saw the interaction between the cat Faunus and the writer. "Ooh, are we playing that Hit Jaune game again?" She asked excitedly, this time deciding to use a paper fan instead. The blond knight pulled a stupefied face as the girl hit him over the head before collapsing in the direction of the blow. Ren watched as his leader fell face-first into the seats on the side of the airship.

"Nora?"

"Yes Ren?" Answered the pancake lover.

"What was in that fan?" The girl rubbed her chin in thought. Slowly twirling the apparently dangerous weapon innocently behind her back. The other students on the air vehicle slowly began inching their way to the other side of the airship, making sure to avoid the girl.

"Um, some leeks, pancake crumbs, strips of metal and I think some of Weiss' paralysing dust got onto it." The black haired man sighed into his palm. _No wonder Jaune got knocked out after one hit. I mean, other than because of Nora's monstrous strength._

Weiss frowned, since when did Nora get into her dust collection? Yang grinned at the hammer girl as she took a seat of her own, sending a thumbs up her way. Weiss rolled her eyes at her teammate, taking a seat on the other side of the ride to avoid being irritated the entire flight. It was never meant to be though once the busty boxer realised what the heiress was doing. Getting up out of her seat she sat right next to the white haired girl, smirking at her. "You won't escape from me Weiss-cream."

Blake grew a small tick mark, annoyed with her current predicament. To her right was a blond monkey Faunus that wouldn't stop asking about her personal interests while to her left was an unconscious blond knight that wouldn't let go of her leg, having taken a liking to sleeping on her thigh much to her embarrassment. Pyrrha glared at the black haired introvert from the other side of the aircraft. _Why couldn't it have been my lap he fell unconscious on?_ She whined mentally. It was unbecoming of the four-time champion but she didn't care, all she wanted was to confirm her feelings for the blond.

What had started as an innocent interest slowly evolved into a feeling that she couldn't describe, and it was not only scaring her but also affecting her thoughts. The red haired Mistrali needed to figure out her feelings for her partner and quick, before something happened because of it.

Glynda watched the large group of students with an interested look. Save for Ruby who was quietly scarfing down cookies in the corner and Jaune who was unconscious, the entire ship was filled with students who were either animatedly talking or in deep thought. She had heard about the blond knight's notorious motion sickness problem and was rather glad that he wasn't releasing the contents of his stomach for the entire half hour. It would've made for a rather _unpleasant_ journey to say the least.

Being the one to draw the short straw she was forced against her will to accompany the students to their destination to prevent possible disasters and would have to stay at the facility until further instructions from Ozpin. Needless to say, they had literally drawn straws to decide on the unfortunate soul.

Blake put on a forced smile and turned to her fellow Faunus, "So Sun." She started, her voice strained slightly. She was _this_ close to lashing out at him and tying her ribbon around his mouth. "What is the name of this facility we're headed? You seem to have failed to mention it." The boy grinned at her,

"Did I? Well, the place is called Pharos." He answered. "It's a subsidiary to Beacon apparently and was made in memory of the failed attempt at creating a school outside of the walls known as Lambent."

The bookworm frowned, _where have I heard that name before?_ She mused to herself. "If it is what you say it is, how have I, a student of Beacon, never heard of it?" She asked skeptically. Sun shrugged.

"'Cause you're introverted?" Blake stayed silent. _Fair enough_. "So, do you like bananas? 'Cause I'm perfectly fine with it if you don't." The black haired ninja sighed, why wasn't Goodwitch doing anything about the blond currently on her lap. There had to be some rule against it or something and she just wanted to read, but couldn't do it if there was a boy taking up her leg space and a monkey Faunus that _would not stop talking_. She groaned, this was going to be a long journey.

* * *

"Sweet Mother of Dust that's a big Ursa!" Yelped Jaune as he rolled out of the way, the large Grimm's arm missing him by a hair. Thinking quickly, he threw yellow and green leaves up into the air to obscure the bear Grimm's vision. Using the cover, he managed to regroup with Sun who had been knocking into a tree. "This is the last one." He commented as he moved into a defensive stance. The blond Faunus nodded, shaking his head clear.

"So you go right, I'll go left?" The knight nodded with a grin at the game plan,

"Read my mind." Bumping fists the two blonds rushed in. "Right!" He cried as he swung at the Ursa, stunning it slightly as the blade knocked it backwards.

"Left!" Sun ran in for his turn, a loud crack resounding once the staff nailed the Grimm squarely in the stomach.

With a yell of 'down' the young author kneeled and swung horizontally, slicing his opponents knees. Sun, taking advantage of the bear's weakness leaped onto the knight's shield for some height and brought his weapon down on its head, effectively killing it as he pulled the trigger. The two sighed in relief, "Now that that's done we can-" Jaune paled upon hearing the unmistakable growl of an Ursa Major. Unfortunately the sound of fighting had brought it right to their position. "Oh this is not going to be good."

The open shirted Faunus shook his head, "Nope, I've got an idea." The young knight blinked,

"You're not thinking of _that_ are you?" His only answer came in the form of a large grin, that he too adopted after some thought. "Alright lets do this then. I'll start." Sun rolled his eyes,

"You're supposed to start last." He joked, receiving a snicker and annoyed glare in response. The stowaway did a faithful impression of a Cheshire cat as he watched his childhood friend begin their combo. With a cry of 'up' he blocked a downwards swipe from the Ursa Major successfully with his shield and used the moment he gained from that to do a spinning upwards slice, disorienting the Grimm as Crocea Mors connected with its chin and yelling up once more. The blond student couldn't help but laugh, they were actually doing this.

Charging in the Faunus rolled under a frenzied swing from the Grimm and with a ecstatic yell of 'down' he used Ruyi Bang to sweep its legs out from under it and stood over it. "Down." He said once more, firing three shots from Jingu Bang into the bear Grimm's chest. However, it only served to anger it further as it hurriedly got up. Leaping off of the rising Grimm the blond swore, "This thing is tougher than it looks."

"Left!" Called Jaune while he shield bashed it, causing it to stagger backwards. "Switch." With an exclamation of 'Right!' Sun hit the Grimm just under the arm. "Left!" Yelled the knight, once more cutting deep into the Ursa Major with a swing of Crocea Mors.

"Right!" With a final swing and trigger pull of his staff, Sun managed to blow a hole in the armoured Grimm. The two collapsed in exhaustion after their successful victory. "Um, so how are we supposed to do B and A?" The novice knight shrugged, peacefully watching the corpse dissolve. "Ice Queen is a freaking slave driver." Complained the Faunus between heavy breaths.

Jaune grinned along with his friend, laughing victoriously. "Yeah, Snow Angel really needs to _cool_ down." As if in retaliation a horde of Beowolves ran in from the outskirts of the clearing. "Weiss it was just a joke! We've already taken out like, twenty of these!" Whined the hunter in training, "Give us a break, it has been an hour already."

_"Simulation Terminated"_

The two blonds sighed in relief as the background began to dissolve into nothings around them, leaving only flat grey hexagonal tiles in their place. The heiress huffed from behind a control panel, "It's not my fault." She stated, pointing to a certain brunette to her right. "Blame her."

"Sorry hotshot, but it was pretty funny." Jaune groaned, sending in a pack of Grimm on two exhausted huntsmen in training - even if it was a simulation - was not funny. He couldn't help but swallow audibly when the fashionista lower her shades, giving her a deadly edge as she spoke. "In all seriousness though, Grimm won't wait for you and your friend to rest up." Sending a wink his way the girl span around, "Now come on, we're all having dinner before we get to sleep. Everyone's got a long day of training ahead of them tomorrow." The closet writer blushed as the girl walked off with a sway of her hips. Sure _he_ knew that he should look away, but his _body_ apparently didn't.

Once she left the room the two boys got up off of the previously grassy ground and followed Weiss to the dinner room. The large group of students had arrived in Pharos without a hitch save for a minor accident on landing and Glynda lead them to the rooms. Unlike Beacon, the rooms were not unisex and thus the teams were split up with Jaune and Ren rooming with Sun and a missing Neptune while Pyrrha and Nora stayed with Velvet and Coco. When asked where Neptune was the leader of SSSN just shrugged, saying that he would be there the following day. Something everyone learned that day was once Jaune woke up after an airship ride, the nausea would hit him all at once. Considering he was using Blake as a pillow at the time it didn't exactly end well for her. At all. So with their luggage safely in their rooms and an angry cat girl threatening to tear him apart his only choice was simulation training.

Upon arriving at the dinner rooms the two blonds marvelled at the spread of food. From fish to fries, from chicken to cheese pizzas, there was practically every kind of food. Everything except for pancakes if the wailing of one Nora Valkyrie was an clue. Ignoring the cries of lost faith in humanity Jaune took a seat in-between Ruby and Velvet, the seat where it was least likely for something to happen to him. Idle chatter bounced around the room as the teams ate their food, conversations ranging from training schedules to schoolwork to one guy complaining that they censored a fight scene on the on-flight movie. "So how was the simulation room?" Queried Ruby as she nibbled on a cookie, already having eaten before the knight had arrived. Though with all of the cookies in her mouth the question came out more like: "Do Hauw Waph Ba Siemu Ladio Doum?"

Somehow able to understand cookie speak, the knight replied. "It was pretty cool. It's going to be great training here. All of the facilities are top notch and there's still a lot of things we can do in our downtime, they even have a hot spring!" Ruby nodded along, she knew all of that already but decided to humour her first friend. Velvet giggled lightly as the two began chatting animatedly with Jaune somehow understanding the rose's cookie speak.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" The blond boy shrugged, he hadn't really thought of the order he would train his skills in. In all honesty he was just going to wing it. The black and red haired girl smirked, "If that's the case, come with me. I've got something really interesting to show you."

The rest of the day passed by quickly. Unlike Beacon, Pharos didn't have a curfew but that didn't stop the group of students from heading to bed fairly early. They had an entire day of training ahead of them so everyone wanted to be rested. That and breakfast the next day was pancakes so no one wanted to miss out just because a certain hammer mistress ate them all.

Jaune sighed as he stared at the ceiling, his thoughts slowing down as sleep began to envelop him. He needed to check if Blake was still irritated the next day and make sure he woke up early so he wouldn't miss out on breakfast. A loud yawn forced the boy to slowly close his eyes as his mind raced in anticipation for the next day. Tomorrow, he would get stronger.

* * *

**As our knight sinks into his dreams a promise to grow stronger is made. This strength and resolution will be tested however, as he will be faced with obstacles on the road to getting stronger, like Yang and Coco's teasing. Next chapter we have the cliche training arc, look forward to it!**

***Sighs* Just another wonderful day at Beacon academy, classes, training, studies, Nora destroying school property and Jaune facing bad luck. You know, the usual. Classes took up a lot more of the day than I initially thought it would, so some training scenes were saved for next chapter. I did manage to get a little in though while also showing the bond between the blond childhood friends. Either way, please leave a review about what you liked and/or disliked and if you enjoyed reading please Follow and Favourite! See you all next chapter!**

**Those who spot a specific reference get their very own, Nora approved, one-hit-knockout fan!**


	20. Chapter 20- Bonds

**Hello everyone, I'm alive! Welcome back. I'd just like to start with an apology for the chapter being up this late, I am **_**really **_**sorry. It's been more than a month since my last update. I'd also like to apologise to the people who PM'd me during that time and didn't get a reply back. I'm not going to go into specifics as to why it took so long, just know that stuff happened and I'm sorry. Let's just get on with the story shall we? Please do follow and favourite if you enjoyed it and leave a review about what I did well and what I could do better!**

**Reviews!**

**Conchamp1998: **Well the reveal will happen eventually, when it happens though is left to be seen. And whoever said it would happen in one go?

**NinjaFang1331: **Thanks!

**Relyt42:** Thanks for that! I fixed it up. If you see any mistakes tell me, I'll be sure to fix it up.

**duskrider:** Thanks?

**Amvmaster:** I don't think I'll be doing a musical montage. Personally, I think it's difficult to weave a song into written form without it feeling out of place. There are very few instances I've seen where music lyrics can be thrown into a story, no matter how fitting.

**Da Etan:** Thank you. Yes, those references were in mind when writing the previous chapter. Sorry the chapter took so long.

**Benthino:** Sorry this took so long to come out. Also, that isn't the only story that has mentioned Lambent before.

**minxan:** Correct.

**dracohalo117:** Sorry to have made you wait so long for it then.

**NotPaulyD:** Thanks!

**Ares50 (Guest): **Yes it was.

**Uchiha Rai:** Yep.

**DarkElucidator: **Good luck with that.

**Cloy552:** I've always found that their luck is always bad in general, no matter what fanfic you're reading.

**KisaragiKei:** Well that's some pressure on me then. I'll try to make it entertaining then!

**Anon (Guest):** I was trying to pay homage to the series rather than rip it off. You'll find that a lot of jokes I make in this are references to something, and people very much enjoy trying to find out what it was and relate to the story. I'm sorry if it came off as me ripping off the series, it's a really good web parody and a lot of people caught on to the fact that I added it in and enjoyed it. I don't put what references I make because reviewers enjoy guessing what they are, but I do put the fact that there are references in the disclaimer. If it really bugs you that much, I'll try giving a shout out to all of the references people picked up on in this chapter in the next one.

**RPGPersona:** Thank you for that praise. Personally, Neo is one of my favourite characters from the actual series so I try to do her justice in mine. I'm glad to see it's working. Sorry for the long wait though.

**A Dark Winter's Wind:** Well, you can still read books like that for the plot. Like Yang said, what comes next is just the icing on the cake.

**willdmac12:** Fair enough, but romance isn't as easy to come by when you aren't looking for it. Not only is Jaune busy with school and his writing, so are the girls who have shown an interest in him. There will be major developments happening soon though, especially since if there is going to be any romance that _isn't_ with Weiss he has to get over her first. I do have a plan for the romance and whom he will eventually end up with; it will just take some time and subtle weaving. It will take a bit because the romance is secondary to the humour, but I believe that you need to structure romance well or the ship will just sink.

**SkyDD:** Indeed there are. Eventually the true heroine will be revealed and the final pairing will be tagged onto the fanfic. I'll tell you this though, I had decided on what the final pairing would be right from the start. Take that as you may. Just remember, the romance is secondary to the humour.

**VibeKiller:** Thank you, it's always fun seeing what things you guys are interested in. On your second review, who knows? I might go darker or I may not. Really depends on how the show travels by the time I actually reach the current episodes but you are 100% right about that sudden drop into darkness.

**Also, if you're interested about my thoughts on the last few episodes and the impact they may have on this story it's in the A/N at the end.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any other franchises I may reference or pay homage to within the chapter. They all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 20- Bonds

Blake stared disinterestedly at the empty plate before her, mildly amused by her partner's hunger-fuelled rage. Who'd have thought Nora would pull an all-nighter just to be the first, and regrettably only, person to get pancakes. The answer, everyone. Everyone _knew_ she would do it, but refused to believe she would go to those lengths for pancakes. She sighed as she poked at the plate with her fork, _well we were wrong, so very, very wrong_. Having nothing better to do, the beauty decided to just read and let the situation play out.

Yang glared angrily at the hammer mistress, "Why did you have to eat _all _of the pancakes Nora!" She cried. Unsurprisingly, combining waking up early and no food made for a very upset Yang. The Valkyrie responded by poking her tongue out as she gripped the chandelier harder. Yang stomped irritated, she couldn't exactly get the girl down without causing a fuss or destroying property but the girl was beginning to get on her nerves. Unfortunately Pharos wasn't like Beacon, Ozpin may turn a blind eye to most things but he wasn't there.

Nora scoffed as she swung around out of the annoyed girl's reach, "I didn't see anyone else eating them." She stated pointedly.

"That's because it was four in the morning! Who stays up 'till four in the morning?" It was the one time of day not many people were awake to see. It was too late to stay awake to and too early to wake up to. On the side of the room, donning a chef's apron with his male teammate, Jaune rolled his eyes as he cooked. Authors and students, that's who stay up to stupidly early in the morning because of procrastination problems.

The two males in the room sighed as a small fight broke out behind them while they cut up some vegetables. Pyrrha and Ruby were trying to pull their respective teammates apart, Velvet was fidgeting on the spot futilely trying to stop the fight and Coco was just laughing her ass off. Sun, seeing no way to help that didn't involve getting beat up, had left amid the confusion to go grab Neptune from the docks, and Blake had just given up on the entire situation altogether, choosing to read a book instead of dealing with the two over-active huntresses in training. The young author sighed, was it bad that he didn't expect any other reactions from his friends?

He released a small shout against his will as a hand made its way to his rear, making a loud slapping noise. "I never knew you could cook hotshot." Coco gave the two males a grin as she stood between them, more than likely having done the same action to Ren. The fashionista couldn't help but mentally frown at the boy to her right, his reaction hadn't been as delicious as the novice knight's. A simple surprised grunt wasn't exactly fun. She turned to the more reactive of the two with a playful wink, "I always wanted to know how to cook, maybe you could teach me." Jaune laughed nervously, slowly turning red from the close proximity.

"I feel like if I had a one on one lesson with you I wouldn't leave in one piece." He replied with a weak smirk. The fashionista smirked back in response,

"Who said anything about a one on one lesson?" Her smirk widened at his uncomfortable expression as she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, "But if you're so against it, maybe I could invite Velv?" Before she could go any further with her teasing Velvet pushed the two leaders apart with a small blush.

"Coco, you already know how to cook!" She cried embarrassedly. Her Faunus ears had picked up the entire conversation between the two, especially the flirtings of her friend. The leader of team CFVY laughed lightly,

"You got me." She admitted in amused defeat, raising her hands as if she was surrendering. "I just love to see it when you two are flustered." Velvet gave the brunette a skeptic look, she never gave up that easily when it came to teasing. Ever. "Though since I already know how to cook, how about you two have a one on one session? You always wanted to learn right Velv?" The rabbit Faunus uncharacteristically grabbed her leader by the ear with a blank stare,

"Why don't we go check out the rest of the facilities?" She 'suggested' to the fashionista with a calm smile. Before Coco could even begin to respond the normally timid girl pulled her out the room by the ear, oblivious to the brunette's complaints and exclamations of pain. Jaune watched the entire scene play of with a nervous smile, Velvet was scary when she wanted to be.  
He turned to his male friend, "Wait, how come she didn't pick on you?" The black haired boy shrugged despite fully knowing the reason. _Because you're an easy target_. He thought mentally. He didn't dare say it out loud lest Jaune actually learnt from the nugget of wisdom, he knew that if Jaune stopped being an easy target then he was next on the list of teasable males. It may seem a little self-centred of him to just sacrifice his friend like that, but he'd rather call it self preservation.

"I doubt us guys will ever understand the minds of women." Stated the boy wisely, the two continuing their preparations for breakfast while the girls continued their brawl. After a brief pause the stoic boy turned to his leader once more, "Hey Jaune?"

"Yes Ren?" Answered the knight a he carefully laid a now boneless fish on the wooden cutting board.

"Do you think we're getting carried away with this?" He asked as he gestured to the five course meal for twelve behind them. The blond laughed and shook his head,

"We already know how much Nora eats, I think this is a healthy precaution for Team RWBY." Ren smirked, he had a point. "Besides, with this much food and those vending machines over there, there should be plenty of food and drinks for all of us. I'm actually surprised you managed to get all of this for us, good job Ren." The fellow chef blinked,

"I thought you were the one that got it." He stated confusedly, "So if I didn't get it, and you didn't either. Where did this food come from?" The two shared a concerned look for a brief moment before nonchalantly shrugging, it wasn't their problem.

Weiss gave a light yawn as she entered the breakfast room. She hadn't bothered to wake early for pancakes, it just wasn't her type of meal in the morning. Today was the day that they would begin their preparation for the Vytal Festival. Of course, she was 100% sure that meant her usually rowdy team would tidy up their act for a bit so they may make full use of the facilities that were oh-so-generously handed to them by the school.

With a cry of "You're dead to me Nora!" A certain blond teammate of hers crashed through the window, the aforementioned Valkyrie in tow, and if the notable sounds of brawling were of any clue falling out of a window did nothing to stop their fight. Off to the right, two out of the three males in the group were making what appeared to be a banquet for thirty while the third was missing, likely having scampered off to go steal something. To make matters worse her partner and the arguably strongest in their friend group were bickering over what was the better snack, cookies or chocolate, and her final teammate was on the sidelines reading a book. The heiress slowly absorbed the situation, trying to make sense of it, before exhaling and pinching the bridge of her nose exhaustedly. Unfortunately her team cleaning up their act was just wishful thinking.

There was only one solution to this.

Without another word and so much as a second glance, the white haired dust meister left. To do what? She wasn't sure, but she was sure that whatever it was it was better than... well, that._ 'For once I agree with you,'_ nodded a voice in her mind. _'Though it would've been better if you had greeted Master good morning.'_ The girl rolled her eyes as she explored the faded brown halls of Pharos, taking in the modern yet still Beacon-esque decor and ignoring the annoying little voice in her head. It was quaint in appearance, but you could somehow still tell that it was built relatively recently. Not within the last few years recently, but recently.

The heiress admired the gentle affect the colour scheme brought upon the mind, it was relaxing enough to calm her down after gazing upon the scene that was her friends' morning interactions. _'Come on, we should go explore this place a bit more. Yesterday we barely had any time to go look around and spend time with master!'_ If only the little voice in her head would stop. That would've made the scenery all the more serene. _'Don't ignore me Weiss! I want to go explore this place more- ooh is that a firing range? Can we go try out Myrtenaster on it?'_ Weiss sighed,

"My body, my rules." She stated simply. Dust, she sounded like a parent. It was a secret to all but herself, and her tenant by extension, that she had been fully aware of what had occurred over the period of time the girl dubbed 'Alice' was in control of her body. It was a weird experience to say the least, seeing through her eyes, feeling through her hands, hearing through her ears, yet be unable to control her actions or voice. It was like watching a movie through a first person perspective.

The fact that it was still her body though, made all the things Alice did on a whim all the more embarrassing to the proud Schnee. She had a reputation to uphold and within the time span of a few days this Alice woman managed to tear down quite a fair bit of it. Two things had kept her from lashing out at her tenant more than she did already. The first being that when her other 'personality' was in charge and calling the shots, she made her teammates have a taste of their own medicine. It cracked her up inside seeing Yang get eaten by a flower.

The second was a slightly more complicated reason. Alice's Ruby-like innocence allowed her to see the true thoughts of her blond suitor. It was an interesting experience learning something like that about someone. A person's true thoughts are something not many people are privy to after all, and something she learned from the experience was that the dunce knight wasn't after her name, which was a first. However, just because her opinion of the boy changed didn't mean she was going to fawn over him endlessly. He had peaked her interest somewhat, but currently she had more important matters.

And on the thought of those important matters, one of the more annoying ones reared its head once more. _'You're thinking about Master aren't you?~'_

"Quiet you." Snapped the white haired girl, although she was getting used to the concept of there being a second person in her head that didn't stop it from being annoying. The two were halted from a usual round of bickering by a growl that could scare a Grimm away. The proud heiress of the Schnee Dust Company flushed, "For the record, I haven't had anything to eat today. That was perfectly normal."

When the 'two' finally made it back to the dining area they noticed that Yang and Nora had somehow made their way back, but from the looks of things it may not have necessarily been a good thing...

* * *

Back with Sun things had taken an interesting turn to say the least. The blond student had picked up his best friend and brought him over to everyone else while 'calmly chatting' about the friends he had made and the reunion with his childhood buddy, but when the two got back to the others the situation was much worse than when he had left. The small brawl apparently had evolved into a massive fight between the two teams, even Weiss and Blake were participating which was unheard of.

"Off with their heads!" Declared Nora as she laughed evilly. Weiss, and by extension Alice, shivered. The voice in her head 'frowned'._ 'Why does it feel like that was directed at me?'_ The heiress shrugged, it was Yang who started the fight not her.

The two members of Team SSSN watched in awe as Team RWBY fought with Team JNPR -mostly Pyrrha and Nora- with what appeared to be makeshift food weapons. The blond monkey resisted a snicker as he watched the only two males of the two teams get launched by Yang off to the side.

Jaune coughed loudly in pain when he was knocked into a wall made of tables, courtesy of Yang, for the third time in a row. Next to him lied Ren as he too was knocked there by the ample chested woman. "Ren?"

The black haired boy groaned painfully as he rolled around to face his leader, "Yes Jaune?"

"How are the girls in this school so strong?" He asked with a pained sigh, watching with a small grin once his fellow blond was sent skywards via Nora's Melon Hammer. He couldn't exactly call it karmic justice on his part though, after all the Valkyrie had been the one to initiate combat by eating the pancakes. Though Yang was also at fault for taking it a step further by tackling the sloth lover out the window...

"If I knew how the girls got that strong would I be down here, half alive with you?" Wow. Sarcastic rhetorical questions from the stoic ninja, that was a first.

"Fair point." He conceded. "Should we help them?" The idea was immediately thrown out the window once Pyrrha started making the canned drinks around her fly. "Pyr that isn't fair!" He yelled from the ground, finding a comfortable groove to rest his head in. "No one's used their semblance yet!" It was unfortunately too late as the champion had already used the fizzy drinks to bombard his book buddy. Poor Blake, that is going to be a pain to wash out.

"What's wrong with using her semblance?" Queried Ren. Sure the red haired girl disliked showcasing it, but it was just them around so there was no harm done right? He couldn't help but cock his head in confusion when the blond boy sighed and gestured ahead of the two with his chin. "Oh." The spinning comet of rose petals was probably the reason why.

The two bystanders winced when the losing team collided with the wall, adding literal insult to injury when the large amount of food the two boys had prepped followed suit. It was a messy situation to say the least.

The members of SSSN jumped on the spot as the door behind them slammed open. "What are you all doing!?" Cried an outraged Glynda Goodwitch. As per usual the brave leader of JNPR hid behind his food painted team. "I should have known it would be you students." Sighed the deputy in exasperation. With a quick flick of her crop the mess of a cafeteria circled around the air before falling into their usual positions, save for the food which went into a conveniently place bin outside. "Has no one ever told you not to play with your food?" Chided the woman.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm sure if we were back at Beacon Professor Ozpin would have let you all of scot free, however I am not Ozpin and as such am not as... lenient. I do know not to interrupt your training period though, so punishment shall wait until you get back to Beacon." With her scolding done the blond witch left the students to their own devices. Jaune sighed in relief, that woman scared him more than the Grimm.

"You guys really did a number on this place." Whistled Sun as he approached his childhood friend, holding out an arm to help him up. "It was pretty awesome. Though you hardly did anything." The knight winced at the slight jab,

"Hey! It's just the girls in our school are freakishly strong." Defended the boy weakly. As if to prove his point Yang finally landed from her trip to cloud city, no doubt hitting terminal velocity at some point during her plummet, and gave a thumbs up upon crash.

"That was fun, minus getting hit by a disembodied hand on the way up. We gotta do that again Nora!" The Valkyrie grinned and shook hands with the busty blond, the usual feeling of camaraderie after a fight bringing them closer as friends. "So what'd I miss?" Asked the young woman as she tossed her sister some cloud cotton candy.

The two male blonds gave each other a blank look, "All right, you may be right about the whole absurdly strong thing." Stated Sun with a deadpan. "On another note, Jaune meet Neptune. Neptune meet Jaune." The two smirked and shook hands,

"Nice to meet you Neptune." Greeted Jaune with a grin. The blue haired boy returned his grin,

"Likewise dude." The newcomer put on a smooth smile as he turned to the girls across the room, "So who are they?"

"That's Team RWBY and the females of my team." Answered the author, "Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Pyrrha and Nora." Seeing the interested look in his eye he elaborated, "Ruby is the young but cute looking one, Weiss is the cold flat one, Blake is the one reading a book, Yang is the blond busty one, Pyrrha is the one with red hair and Nora is the one destroying furniture. Again. Could... could you go stop her Ren?" The black haired boy sighed and ran to catch his childhood friend.

Neptune laughed at the simple yet accurate descriptions. "So what is first on the agenda? We training or what?" Jaune shrugged,

"To be perfectly honest, other than the shower I definitely need, I don't know what types of facilities they have here." Admitted the novice knight. There wasn't exactly a brochure he could read and they had arrived rather late the day prior so there was little to no time to explore the expansive variety of facilities within Pharos.

Sun grinned widely as he pulled out the brochure he had received from the receptionist, "It says on this brochure that there is a place where we can practice using fake firearms in different environments." The two other males peered over the blond Faunus' shoulders to read along as well.

"Using the latest equipment we have created an interchangeable, customisable field in which there are a variety of weapons to practice within the shifting environments. To prevent injury or damage to equipment, the bullets found within the weapons are made of a compressed capsule that holds a coloured substance to allow one to see where their bullets landed. Be warned, although the capsules are filled with liquid, they still hurt to get shot by." Read the three aloud in sync.

The young writer blinked, "Aside from the whole customisable environment, isn't this just paintball?" The gunchuck wielding blond nodded enthusiastically as he silenced his fellow blond with a single finger. He grinned widely, putting the brochure in his pocket.

"Let's do it! What's the worst that could happen?" Cheered the Faunus.

"Well you know what they say, don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Commented the blue haired male.

Sun suddenly flew into an abrupt coughing fit that was oddly directed at his friend. "_*cough cough* Nerd *cough*_" The offended boy frowned,

"Intellectual." Corrected the newcomer with a disapproving wave of his finger. Just as quickly, the young man turned to the female students across the room. He sent them a smooth wink, "So we gonna invite the ladies or?..."

* * *

Neptune was a little disheartened by the nonplussed greeting he received when he introduced himself, not that you could tell by looking at him. He turned to the blond on his right, "Do you think they don't like me?" Jaune shook his head negatively, how could they not like him? Neptune was pretty cool. Dust, he was probably the embodiment of cool. "Judging from the amount of times Weiss has shot me I think she has it out for me." Commented the blue haired boy again as he inspected the paintball residue on him. With how much force was behind the 'small' pellet it should have been called a painball.

Jaune laughed, "That's just her way of saying hi. Also, she wanted to get back at you for calling her Snow Angel." Neptune had had his fair share of dismissals from women in the first meeting, but repeatedly shooting him with a gun was new. "Either way, we need to find Sun and Ren while avoiding Nora and Yang." The power combo of a painball shotgun and a freaking grenade launcher was a bit much. Note how there was no mention of paint in the grenade launcher.

"How did we even get in this mess?" It was a good question. At the start they had decided to play a four-v-four, guys-vs-girls type battle with Blake and Pyrrha opting out due to having better things to do. Then one thing somehow evolved into another and now the two boys found themselves separated from their teammates and alone in a custom generated abandoned warehouse, mountain and forest with a paintball handgun and a paintball rifle. The two jumped with a start when a rustle came from behind them.

Without a moment's hesitation the two males loosed a few shots in the direction of the noise in hopes to chase the hidden object away. Jaune paled when a certain blond brawler walked out of the bushes. To make matters worse, it was a blond brawler with a good three to four blobs of paint in her hair. "It's been nice knowing you Neptune." Stated Jaune with a smile, placing his hand comfortingly on the other boy's shoulder.

The newcomer returned the smile wholeheartedly, "If we survive this please hit me for suggesting to invite the girls." Jaune laughed, trying to put on a brave front. If you looked closely you could see the fear in his... well everything.

"Well, only one thing to do now." The two nodded. "RUN!" They yelled simultaneously as they dashed their way into the abandoned warehouse, narrowly avoiding shotgun shells on the way in. In a hushed voice Neptune turned to his one friend, despair evident in his voice"Those weren't paintballs were they?"

The knight swallowed audibly, letting out a nervous laugh. "Of course they are. They just, paint you red. All over." Making light of the situation wasn't exactly helping them.

"Where are you two?" Called Yang from within the storage; her voice echoing around menacingly. "I'm not going to hurt you, just horribly maim and disfigure you." That wasn't any better. "If you show yourself you might just leave with your body intact." Well that wasn't a horrifying image at all.

The two felt a cold shiver run down their spine as the footsteps slowly approached their hiding spot. Jaune held his breath as the girl rounded the corner towards the two. "Aha! Wha?" It was empty save for a few cardboard boxes.

"Don't say anything Neptune and whatever you do don't fear for your life." Whispered Jaune. "She can smell fear." The newcomer shivered at the emphasis the knight had placed on his words. There was no way Yang was that deadly. The blond girl growled in clear irritation, her hair sparking in a testament to her slowly getting closer to her irritation. The sheer heat emanating off of the livid boxer's hair made short work of the paint, drying it in mere seconds. In a few moments the wet paint had dried and peeled off, leaving a trail of glimmering red paint flakes behind her as she hurriedly searched for the two boys.

Thankfully the paint was the easy-to-come-off kind, meaning little to no damage was done to her hair, so really she was just trying to find them out of principle now. That and so she could win their little paintball fight. At some point it had changed from shooting practice to a war. A war where the winner would get to boss around someone from the opposing team.

Jaune could feel the sweat roll off of his face in buckets as he watched the red paint pass through the small holes in the box he had made using the paint gun. He was a dead man._ I'd like to leave my books to Blake, my cookie recipe and supplies to Ruby, my cooking equipment to Ren, Amethyst can have my writing supplies, position of leadership goes to Pyr and everything else can go back home._

He tentatively peeked through the hole in the box to find the person who would more than likely be the one responsible for his death. To his left he could see Neptune's box quivering visibly, the boy may act cool but an angry Yang could bring even the best of men to their knees. He was sure most of the male populace of the school avoided flirting with Team RWBY just because of that. Or maybe because Ruby is two years younger than the first years, Weiss is the heiress to a major business and Blake is an introvert. It could be anything really.

"I don't have all day, you'd better come out now or I start shooting boxes." Demanded Yang as she brought up the paintball shotgun. "Don't worry, I'm not mad about the hair thing-" she paused mid-sentence as a thought came to mind. "-kind of. Just stop hiding so we can finish this paintball fight- I mean, live target training." The warehouse stayed silent. "Come on you two, fight me like men!"

Jaune sighed as he sent Neptune a look; it was now or never. Slowly taking off the box he surveyed his surroundings, checking to make sure the coast was clear. "What are you doing?" Whisper shouted Neptune. The blond knight held up a finger to his mouth for a moment before gesturing to the exit. "You're never going to make it!" The writer gave the newcomer a grin. If there was any skill he was proud of other than writing, it was his ability to run away from danger.

"Just watch me." He gave a cocky smirk as he began to sprint out of the warehouse, leaping around and over the boxes that blocked his way. "If she comes after me then run." He called back, already a quarter of the way to freedom. Neptune gave the running knight a sad salute, he would make sure the sacrifice wouldn't go to waste.

The blond boy jumped in surprised as several painball shells decimated a box beside him. "How is a paintball shotgun fair?" He cried, firing a couple of paintballs towards the direction of the shells.

"C'mon Vomit Boy, I promise I won't do anything bad to you after I win." Yelled Yang as she shot a couple more times at the boy from behind a metal shelf, sending several boxes flying in his direction. Weaving in and out of the cardboard projectiles, Jaune held his breath as he jumped under a broken car.

Silence echoed through the warehouse as none of the three made a move. Peeking his head out from under the vehicle Jaune scanned his surroundings for the dangerous blond with a painball shotgun. Although the busty woman was nowhere to be seen Neptune's box could be seen shuffling around in the distance, inching it's way to freedom. He watched with bated breath, and mild curiosity, as it made its way through the silent warehouse, stopping occasionally to briefly survey its surroundings.

Without so much as a warning the deadly blond stepped out from the corner she was hiding in, a grin square on her face as she watched the box obliviously make its way to freedom. Jaune stared in silent horror as the excited face of Neptune was juxtaposed by the frightening smile on the young brawler. He could do nothing to warn the blue haired newcomer, he was already in the woman's grasp. He bowed his head for the boy as he gave him a moment of silence, already knowing of the events to come. With a final look of pity the knight sprinted out of his hiding spot full force as the sound of a trigger being pulled and a girlish scream reached his ears, he would make sure the sacrifice wouldn't go to waste.

Running around the piles of boxes once more the knight wasted no time making his way to the exit. He couldn't hear the sound of the paintballs being fired over his own screams, but he could tell they were getting closer. With a final yell Jaune leapt out of the abandoned building, laughing triumphantly as he did so. He had made it, sure Neptune had sacrificed himself in the process but he still survived. His celebratory jump was put to a stop however when his foot collided with something on the floor. Jaune stared blankly at the tied up and paint covered bodies of Ren and Sun. Taking the time to actually pay attention to his surroundings the blond knight took note of the heiress, rose and Valkyrie all pointing their weapons to him.

Yang gave him a playful grin upon exiting the warehouse behind him, sauntering up to the boy in a cocky manner. "Well your running was a _paint_ in the ass, but now it's checkmate." She joked into his ear as she held the shotgun to his back. He would've laughed too if it weren't for the four paintball weapons firing simultaneously at him, causing what would have been a laugh to become an incoherent strangled cry.

* * *

Jaune groaned as he wrung his hair out with one hand, his other pressing his scroll firmly to his ear. It had taken several hours to finally get the paint out of his hair, why couldn't his semblance be as handy as Yang's? He didn't even _want_ to know how hard it would be to get out of his clothes. Being soluble in water didn't exactly help if there was _that_ much paint.

His annoyed expression did a 180 as he continued the call. "So you can do it? Great!" He gave an excited woop and pumped his fist ecstatically, having just finished detailing what he wanted his handgun to have. Jaune grinned widely; he would be getting an awesome new weapon when he got back. He really needed to thank Roman when he could, the orange haired man had done so much for him. He frowned in thought for a moment, coming to a brief stop in the middle of the hallway. "So Roman, why do you know someone that can craft weapons?" The man's nervous laugh could be heard clearly from the scroll,

"Uhh, we used to work together?" Answered the criminal slowly. As far as the kid was concerned it wasn't a lie, after all they were business buddies at one point.

The blond replaced his frown with a light grin, "OK." He responded cheerily. It was still hadn't really registered in his head that he would be getting his very first ranged hunter weapon at the end of the week. Jaune stared at the floor worriedly, he'd never fought with a ranged weapon before. How _does_ one fight giant Grimm with a mere handgun? He shrugged to no one in particular he would figure it out later. "Anyway, I'll get back to you soon with that Faunus story. A friend of mine is helping me learn about them." The orange haired man tapped his cane in thought, was he talking about that black haired cat Faunus that nearly assassinated him?

"You'd better hurry or you might not make the deadline." Reminded the editor. With a quick nod, that Roman couldn't see, the novice knight hung up. _Speaking of learning about Faunus I still need to see Blake_. The two hadn't finished their session the day prior due to him having to quickly finish the work Goodwitch had assigned him… the work that he hadn't handed in yet.

The boy sighed grimly, "Miss Glynn is going to kill me." He stated with finality.

"I told you to stop calling me that." Chided Glynda pointedly from beside the blond. He jumped in his skin at her sudden appearance, where did she come from? The woman gave him a tired look, "Before you start running away screaming Mr Arc I would appreciate it if you'd hand in the work you're late with." Jaune laughed nervously as she held out her hand expectantly,

"Um, about that. I, uh, don't have it here?" The deputy raised a brow. From all his time with the strict woman Jaune had begun to take this small action as her way of saying 'You'd better have a good reason or you're dead'. A translation he was sure Ozpin would wholeheartedly agree with. "Well you remember the whole locked in a freezer incident? Well that not only prevented me from handing it in, but also made me forget about it altogether. Which is why I didn't bring it with me." The lack of Goodwitch lowering her eyebrow was the sign she wasn't pleased with his reasoning.

"Come on Miss Glynn, I don't need _another_ punishment." He flinched as it appeared the woman still wouldn't budge on her decision. "Please? For me?" He pleaded, taking a note from Ruby's book as he pulled the most pitiable expression he could muster.

The blond teacher gave him a blank look and began to walk off, pushing up her glasses. "Make sure you hand it in immediately when we arrive back at Beacon." The young student gave a nervous laugh as the woman walked off, no doubt to scold some other poor student. He sighed in relief when the witch was finally out of earshot. There was nothing on Remnant that scared him more than Glynda Goodwitch, except maybe Neo and Yang when they were mad. Or Mr Diddles, but that was a whole other thing in itself.

"I didn't know you were so close with Miss Goodwitch." Commented a voice from behind him, a growing trend these days. The blond knight turned around to see a grinning Yang peering out from behind a vending machine. Jaune shrugged nonchalantly at his fellow blond,

"Trust me, when you're horrible at fighting compared to everyone else at the start of the year remedial classes are a must." He explained simply, paying no mind to the fact that the girl was hiding behind a vending machine. Knowing the brawler, she was probably the reason why Goodwitch had come around in the first place. "Trust me when I say you want to be on good terms with the person tortur- I mean tutoring you every Friday for the first few weeks." Yang blinked, barely catching the brief slip of the tongue by the young author.

"Every Friday?" She gave him a pitying smile as she placed her hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "If you ever want me to help break you out, just ask." Stated the girl with as much seriousness as she could muster. The knight laughed nervously in response, finding her readiness to 'bust him out' concerning.

"You... You haven't done that before right?" He queried uneasily. The busty boxer laughed,

"Of course not." She replied, "But if you do see Goodwitch, tell her I went that way. See ya Vomit Boy." Waved the girl as she walked the opposite direction to the one she pointed out. The young writer gave his fellow blond a look before letting loose a small sigh, for some reason he didn't believe her.

Jaune frowned as he made his way back to the rooms, he had forgotten to ask Yang where Blake was. He needed some insight on using a handgun to fight Grimm and Ren was already busy dealing with Nora. First however, he needed to apologise for drawing on her face. He couldn't help but feel as if she had been distancing herself from him lately, whether it was retaliation for doing the same or some other reason didn't matter. Whatever it was, he wanted to know.

Currently the twelve students were spread out around Pharos, each doing their own thing. Last he saw them, Neptune and Ruby were tinkering with their weapons, Sun, Pyrrha, Weiss and Coco were testing out the simulator again while Ren 'helped' Nora with live target practice. The only students whose whereabouts were unknown were Yang, who was on the run from Goodwitch, and the two female Faunus' of the group.

As he entered the sleeping quarters he was disheartened to find that the black haired bookworm wasn't alone reading books like he had hoped, meaning he had no clue as to where his book buddy would be. Deciding to leave the search for later Jaune headed out to practice his use of his shield. There was a great facility that would launch annoyingly painful rubber balls from random directions that would make for great dodging and blocking training.

His mind set, the novice knight made his way to the dodgeball facility. His lips formed into a small smile as he walked through the blinding white halls. The facility felt less like a training centre and more like a game centre that had the added benefit of enhancing one's skills as a hunter. To be perfectly honest it was a good idea, letting hunters train while having fun. As he turned the corner he was faced with a lengthy hallway he hadn't noticed before.

"Hey Jaune!" Called Ruby from the end of the hallway, "I've got something cool to show you!" She beckoned him with a wide grin, gesturing inside the door she was currently in. Hesitantly taking a step into the door frame the blond student was surprised to see an entire library almost the size of the Beacon one. However, what the library lacked in size it more than made up for with it's extra facilities.

Taking a second to admire his surroundings the young knight couldn't help but comment, "Is that a café?" The Rose nodded enthusiastically,

"Yeah! They even have a games room!" If one looked closely they could see that the two leaders were visibly shaking in excitement. Jaune couldn't even be bothered to comment on the fact that the café was called 'The Sleepy Sloth'. "Now c'mon, let's go get something to eat." From the sound of their stomachs a bite to eat was probably for the best. To be fair, they technically hadn't had much food to eat considering the whole food fight situation.

As the two walked past the marvellous rows upon rows of books in the direction of the café Jaune couldn't help but question the red and black haired reaper's motive, "So Ruby, why did you enter the library in the first place? I thought-" he paused mid-sentence when the younger girl pointed at something next to the entrance. "Cookie dispenser, got it." Finished the blond with a sigh. His fellow leader did have a soft spot for cookies. Well, more of an empty void than a soft spot. Seriously where did they all go?

"Does Blake know about this place?" Queried the knight, a café and a library in the same place seemed right up her alley. At the mention of her black haired teammate the Rose's expression turned faintly downcast, sparing a glance to their right. Upon following her gaze Jaune saw the cat Faunus on a computer similar to those in the Beacon library.

"She's been there all day. That isn't even bad by itself, but when I asked if she wanted some white hot chocolate she wouldn't budge. Blake isn't even talking to me." Ruby stated sadly, messing around with the hem of her battle skirt as the two leaders came to a stop. She'd tried talking to her but the girl just wouldn't peel her eyes off the screen. The rose couldn't help but feel partially at fault because she was the one who had mentioned the existence of this place to her.

Jaune frowned as he watched a myriad of expressions dance around Ruby's face. Her thoughts and emotions playing like a movie trapped in fast forward, out for all to see but none to understand except for the one privy to her thought process. He felt both pride and shame knowing partially how his best friend thought. One's thoughts were something that only they should know yet his semblance ripped open that privacy, that sacred space, and allowed him to see things that no one else could, or should for that matter.

Those thoughts were for another time though. Now, although it wasn't a fight per say, his best friend and his book friend were in the middle of a conflict, and he had to help stop it. The knight wasn't sure if it was just his tendency to stick his nose into other people's problems, or because he felt obligated to do it as repentance for looking into their minds. All he knew was he wanted to help them, so he would.

"What are you going to order?" Asked Ruby curiously. Jaune looked up from his thoughts to see that the young reaper had led him to the café. Perhaps it was her way of saying she'd want his help at a later date, when he knew what he could do for them. That or because she just wanted him to order already so they could eat their first full meal of the day. He could never tell with Ruby, her thoughts were all over the place half the time. More than likely a side effect of her semblance.

The blond put a hand to his chin in thought, a motion he'd taken a liking to as of late. "I'll just have what you're having I guess." Answered the boy nonchalantly. He hadn't had a look at the menu and honestly didn't mind. "Though I would like a mug of white hot chocolate." He admitted. The younger girl gave him a huge smile,

"I didn't know you liked cookie crumb, strawberry pancakes too!" She exclaimed excitedly. Cookie crumb, strawberry pancake? Repeated the knight mentally.

"Well if it isn't the cookie cook himself." Laughed a familiar voice. Much to the two leaders' combined surprise, the young man in charge of the mail room was at the counter. "What's with the looks? Can't a guy have more than one job?"

Jaune recovered first, shaking his head with a sigh. "Jay was it?" After receiving a brief nod he continued, "Well we just weren't expecting you to just appear here is all." The black haired man shrugged,

"I get that a lot." He stated simply. Ignoring the skeptical looks from the two the mail man continued, "So it's a cookie crumb, strawberry pancake for the lovely young woman and her friend, and a white hot chocolate. Right?" Ruby stared at the young man in awe,

"How did you know what we wanted?" She asked curiously,

"My employer told me." Explained Jay, "She also said that you and your friends can eat here free." He added as an afterthought. Jaune narrowed his eyes in thought, how did his employer-

He opened his mouth in realisation, "Nora." The boy apparently employed under Nora nodded. "Since when did Nora's Uh, establishment, become a franchise?" The black haired man shrugged, how could he know? He was just an employee.

"At any rate, you're food will be ready soon. Just wait at a table and I'll bring it over." With a nod Jaune brought Ruby to an empty table off to the side. He had chosen that specific spot so that he could keep an eye on Blake while using the potted flora to keep out of her sight, not that it mattered. The amber eyed girl didn't stray her attention from the monitor in front of her for more than a second. Turning to the silver eyed reaper he was unsurprised to see her worried look.

"Ruby, I'm sure she has her reasons." He mumbled in a half-hearted attempt to comfort his first friend. It was hard to convince someone else if you couldn't even convince yourself,

The Rose sighed at the knight, "That's why I'm so worried. She either can't share those reasons or she doesn't want to." Jaune frowned,

"Surely it isn't that bad." Even he could tell there was no truth between those words. To further prove her point Ruby picked up a small flat pebble from the potted flora and tossed it at the Faunus, managing to nail her head at that distance. The black haired bookworm didn't even give the small rock the time of day as she continued doing whatever it was she was doing. "Do you know what she's doing?" The leader of Team RWBY shook her head,

"I only saw what she was looking at briefly." Replied the young girl. "Jaune, she was looking at news headlines of the recent dust robberies." The blond frowned as he stared at Blake once more. It was disheartening really, seeing one of his fans acting like that. What was going through that brain of hers?

Blake stared blankly at the screen, how long has she been doing this? The words and letters had begun to blend together long ago. She hadn't taken a break since she had started let alone looked for something to eat. The bookworm resisted rubbing her eyes lest she miss some important blob of information. All she could think about was the White Fang. There was no way Adam would willingly work with not only one, but three humans. Especially not someone like Roman Torchwick. Who's to say those were the only humans? For all she knew there more, possibly dozens, possibly one. That was why she was doing this. She needed to know, she needed to find out now before something happened.

Blake finally gave in to the urge and rubbed the dust out of her eyes, feeling extreme relief from the brief lapse in vision. She looked back at the webpage, the pictures finally starting to clear. Her small hand tightened on the mouse as she continued her search. She had just found people who didn't care about her Faunus heritage, someone she can confide her secrets to, people she can talk about books with. A place that she might even be able to call home. She couldn't just sit around and do nothing about it.

She wouldn't rest until the White Fang were stopped and Roman Torchwick was behind bars.

* * *

Jaune yawned loudly as he woke. The light of the sun leaked through the curtain directly onto his eyes like some makeshift alarm clock. He stretched, feeling his muscles ache from his training the day prior. It was hard to believe it was only their fourth day at Pharos, excluding the few hours left during the day they had arrived. The knight had managed to get into a rhythm with his training, the exercises becoming his daily routine. He tapped the toes of his shoes lightly on the floor to get the last of his foot in. Like always, he started with an early morning jog before breakfast.

The blond inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh morning air. Following breakfast was some sword and shield training with Pyrrha and some light combat training with whoever was available. Most days he would either just spar with Ren, Neptune or Sun as everyone else would just kick his ass, or get Yang and Ren to help him with unarmed combat. He'd then have lunch in the library with anyone that felt like it and do some simulation training afterwards to work on his battle strategies. Before dinner the knight would either use the ball dodging room to work on his dodging skills and awareness or rest his muscles, maybe play a game or two of 'Million Lien But' with Ruby and Neptune. His last hour after dinner would then be spent meditating with Ren to relieve stress and work on his aura control.

One thing was missing from his schedule though. Ranged training with a handgun. The novice knight still needed to learn how to fight Grimm with a single handgun and the only person he knew that could do that was Blake, the girl currently residing in the library as if she was some ghost haunting the premise. In many cases students believed that she was in fact just that. To the young author, the only positive that came from the cat Faunus taking up residence in the library was the Glynda-free area. It wasn't a very well known fact but Goodwitch was absolutely horrified by ghosts, well the concept of the undead as a whole really, and stayed clear from the library rumoured to be haunted by a black haired girl with bloodshot eyes. However, even that had lost it's charm as of late.

After finishing his jog the blond found his legs carrying him to the library subconsciously. Somehow this action had become part of his daily schedule against his will. Each and every day without fail since he had begun his little training regime he found himself standing behind the bookworm, watching her look through pages upon pages of news articles about the White fang. And now, once again, he was behind the young woman as he idly stared at her tired expression and dark, bloodshot eyes.

"Morning Blake." He greeted, deciding to take a seat for once. The blond didn't so much as receive a tilt of the head signifying she acknowledged his presence. Not that he expected any different, after all, why would she talk to him now after three consecutive days of trying? "So how's the search going?"

"..."

Jaune sighed, there was almost no way he was going to get through to the girl was there? "Y'know, your team really misses you." No response. His fists clenched in irritation, this just wasn't like Blake. He stopped that thought dead before it could completely register. Who was he kidding? this was exactly like Blake. He looked at her tired eyes, it was exactly like her to run away from her friends and take the weight of the world by herself. Just look at what happened when they found out she was a Faunus.

That was why it hurt him the most. She reminded him of himself. Bottling in everything, telling no one. It would have been almost poetic if it wasn't just plain sad. That was probably why they turned to books. To her, books were probably her way of escaping reality, running away from her problems. "Blake, you can't just run from everyone." To his surprise this finally got a rise from the girl,

"I. Am. Not. Running." She stated almost dangerously. He would've backed down if it weren't for the dryness of her voice. He could feel how tired she was. Grabbing her shoulder and the swivel chair he spun her around, forcing her to break her attention off of the screen for the first time in days.

"Yes, you are." He returned, his voice just as serious as hers. The students around the two stepped back, feeling the tension in the air. "Ruby told me you haven't even used the room you were given since the first night here." The girl visibly flinched. He could feel the Faunus shaking as his hand tightened on her shoulder. "You won't even acknowledge anyone's presence let alone talk to them. People are beginning to think you're a ghost." Continued the night, his energetic blue eyes staring right through Blake's tired Amber ones straight into her soul. "No one knows what you are doing or why you are avoiding them-"

"I'm not avoiding them." She retaliated, "I'm doing this for their sake-"

"Bullshit." If there was one thing Jaune hated more than anything, it was swearing. Swearing was just the way out a lazy person would use when they ran out of words. There were millions of words one could use to convey what they were trying to say, so why say an insulting one? However, they did carry some power behind them so as a writer he believed they were a last resort, something one used to help portray a character's emotions and dust if this wasn't the right time to use them! The black haired student visibly jolted at the harshness of his tone. Was Jaune always like… this? "You and I both know that what you are doing right now is avoiding them. Not going back, not talking to them, not even telling them why, how is this for their sake?"

Blake's teeth clenched, what did he know? He didn't know the White fang like she did. He didn't know Adam like she did. "You don't know what they are capable of." She growled, "I'm the only one who can do this!"

"You're wrong." The two jumped to see a newcomer had arrived,

"Yang?" It wasn't really a question, more of a statement said in a questioning tone. If he had to question anything it would be what Yang was doing up this early.

The black haired girl gave her a look, "Yang, if you're going to tell me to stop then save your breath." Jaune took a step back to let his fellow blond do her thing, not wanting to get between her and her partner's 'bonding time'.

"I don't want you to stop Blake, I want you to slow down." Stated the young woman calmly. "You're wearing yourself out. By the time you find something important about the White Fang you'll be too tired to do anything about it." The introvert shook her head exasperatedly, she couldn't believe they were wasting her time by having this conversation.

"I'm perfectly fine Yang." She stated irritatedly as she swivelled her chair in the direction of the fiery blond aggressively, "I am function one hundred percent."

Jaune facepalmed, "Blake, terrible grammar aside, you're talking to a lamp." The cat Faunus growled and turned to the boy, swivelling her chair angrily.

"You two don't know the White Fang like I do, I'm the only one that can do this!" Cried the girl indignantly, her hands tightening around the edge of her chair.

The hunter in training grabbed the bookworm's shoulder irately, "Again with the 'only I can do this' shtick." He growled, "You aren't the only one who can do this Blake." Before the girl could retaliate he continued, "If we don't know the White Fang like you do then teach us. You're carrying the weight of your problems as if you're alone in this. Slow down and let us help you."

She shook her head frustrated, "We don't have the luxury to slow down!" Yang sighed at her partner,

"It isn't a luxury, it's a necessity." Jaune blinked, she was oddly calm. You'd think Yang would be the type to slap someone on the head and tell them to apologise and not do anything wrong. Strangely enough, he was the one doing all the angry yelling on their side. "Now get that sweet Bella-booty over here and let me tell you a story." Jaune sighed, there went all of his belief that Yang was taking this seriously.

The black haired beauty studied the blond girl carefully, observing for any ways out before shuffling her chair closer reluctantly. The young author took a step back, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, should I go before you spill some of your dark past or?" The buxom boxer gave him a look, "... Is that a no?"

Not giving him the pleasure of a response the girl began talking. "Ruby and I grew up in Patch an island just off the coast of Vale," she began slowly. "Our parents were huntsman, our dad taught at Signal and our mum would take on missions around the kingdom." The young knight's eyes widened briefly, realising where she was going with the story. Jaune nervously sat down, listening to the story he definitely hadn't known before now. As the blond's story when on the knight couldn't help but attempt to mirror Blake's responses, trying to not look suspicious.

"But as luck would have it, our uncle showed up just in time. My stubbornness should have gotten us killed that night." She finished sombrely. Jaune refrained from applauding his fellow blond's surprising storytelling ability. Something told him she would punch him into next week if he did.

Blake exhaled lightly, "Yang. I-I'm sorry about what happened to you, and I understand what you're trying to say but this is different." Jaune watched silently as the girl's voice began to raise, "I'm not a little girl and this isn't just a search for answers, I can't just-"

Yang frowned, "I told you I don't want you to stop. I haven't. To this day I still want to know what happened to my mother, and why she left me, but I will never let that search control me." Jaune frowned, is that why you were having a nightmare about your mother before initiation? He thought to himself. It was pure coincidence that she just so happened to be haunted by the past events that night, or maybe she always had that dream night after night, but his semblance led to him learning something he shouldn't have known until today.

Blake's fists clenched harder, "You don't understand, I'm the only one who can do this!"

"No you don't understand!" Growled Jaune, surprising the two girls, "'The only one who can do this', you keep saying that. When will it wrap around your head that you aren't alone. You have us, you have your team, you have Yang. We aren't that useless that we can't even help out a friend in need." Yang stood pleasantly surprised by the young knight,

Blake faltered slightly, "I'm not calling you guys useless-"

Yang frowned, "Your actions say otherwise Blake." Jaune nodded, "Please." The two book buddies were mutually surprised when instead of throwing a punch the boxer tightly hugged the black haired introvert. "We're not asking you to stop Blake." She stated quietly, "Just please get some rest, if not for yourself, then for those who care about you. Slow down and let us help you."

Jaune smiled lightly at the pair of partners. "We're here for you Blake, don't take everything on yourself." The bookworm stared at the two blonds incredulously before loosing a defeated sigh,

"You two really are something." She muttered under her breath with a light hearted smile. "Fine, I'll take a break for now." Jaune and Yang shared a victorious grin,

"If you really want to, we can investigate when we get back." Suggested the young writer.

Yang nodded, "We can get our team in on it. You know how Weiss gets when we keep stuff from her." The blond knight blinked, _note to self, Weiss doesn't like it when teammates keep stuff from her._ "I'll see you at breakfast Vomit Boy. We still need to have that date sometime, especially since you helped me tame our little kitty over here." She sent a sly wink his way,

"Yang?" Started Blake slowly. Her partner nodded to show she had heard her. "You can let go of me now. I really want to have a nap." The girl shook her head,

"I'll never let go!" She cried dramatically. "You're surprisingly soft Blakey, so if you want to have that catnap then you'll have to sleep with me~" Jaune watched in amusement as Yang was dragged by the sleepy black haired Faunus out of the library. "Carry me Blaaake!" Whined the blond girl, just before they got out of earshot of the knight, "I had to miss out on beauty sleep because of you." Blake rolled her eyes, Yang would always be Yang.

The blond released a sigh of relief. This would be one more thing he'd need to do when they got back. He really didn't mind though. If it meant his friend would open up more, he'd do anything to help them. Besides, if the rest of Team RWBY come along with them what could possibly go wrong? With his mind set on the positives of his upcoming return to Vale and Beacon, and what was for breakfast, the young author set out for something to eat. After all, it was a great day for training.

* * *

**With the beginning of a new day at Pharos on its way and friendships growing stronger than ever, what will the future have in store for our lovable protagonists as the plot begins to shift. The past effects are coming into play and the future is beginning to change, for the better or worse is the million dollar question. Watch out for next chapter where Jaune has one last fairly ironic problem to deal with before the group heads back, and probably doesn't take more than a month to come out…**

**And there we have it! We finally see the effects of Jaune's influence on canon is. Early food fight, early Neptune, early Blake intervention and now Jaune will be in on the investigation. Implications of this? Who knows except me? Many developments this chapter with many affects on the future. Alice is confirmed not gone, then again why would she? Alice was a 'personality' brought out with an entire beaker of special dust that acted like a catalyst rather than fuel. It was required for her to come out, but not for her to exist.**

**Now something I'm sure at least… two, three?- let's go with three. At least three of you are wondering. What did I think of the last few episodes? Well let's just say I both wasn't and was expecting what would happen. Before I go any further I'd just like to say, **_**SPOILER WARNING**_**.**

**Now for those who have watched the episode, don't care about spoilers or didn't see the spoiler warning above, I was pretty happy about the way they chose to end it. I'll just address the larger issues first,**

**-Yang's Lost Arm.  
To be perfectly honest, I thought it was a great idea. The character that is 'only a huntress for the thrills' lost an arm. The arguably strongest and most badass person on Team RWBY got dismembered and beat in a single swipe. Now I think Adam is a dick as much as the last guy, but he did a good thing.**

**It was a humbling experience I'm sure, to see such a powerful, happy character to be reduced into… that, but just because she lost an arm doesn't mean she's any less awesome. It means she's going to become even more awesome later. Y'know, after she starts getting over the fact she lost an arm and gets a robot one. I'm sure Mercury is laughing his ass off.**

**-Pyrrha's Pyrrhic Victory.  
Yeah, she died. Just after she **_**finally**_** showed her feelings for Jaune. Now I'm going to say something I know people will hate me for. I think them 'killing off' Pyrrha isn't a bad thing. Don't get me wrong, I liked her like I like all characters in a show. Pyrrha was one of the more powerful characters in the show, from the ability to control poles to her being the female version of Achilles. However, just like Achilles, she was taken out by an arrow to the knee… and chest.  
I think this will be a great opportunity for Team JNR to **_**really**_** get involved now that it's personal, and Jaune will get even more character development. The fact that it also means he is now open to ships as well is a thing too. Now what I want to happen more than anything is for Pyrrha to not have 'died' and was actually sent to Salem because she was put on the 'list' in Volume 2. Then I want her to become brainwashed and be the final boss for Jaune to fight in the end, which will end in him winning at the cost of his life, just because that would be a real kick in the balls. Right in the final moments Pyrrha will regain consciousness and the two will share a romantic moment before they breathe their last. Dark, but effective.**

**-Ozpin's Fight and Salem.**

**Well, Ozpin's fight was everything I hoped it would be. Badass. He seemed to have the ability of time dilation, and whether it is through his semblance or aura doesn't matter, it was cool. A slightly longer fight would have been awesome, but I guess they didn't want to reveal too much.  
Now the 'Mysterious Narrator' from Volume 1 and the early World of Remnants being what appeared to be a bad guy was mind blowing. Salem's intro was great and I thought they pulled it off well. Props to the RWBY crew.**

**-Velvet and Qrow's weapon reveal.**

**Although her weapon was really cool and powerful, I thought it was a bit too powerful? Obviously it has some sort of weakness other than her having to take a photo of it, but for now I'm a bit iffy.  
Qrow finally getting to mechashift his scythe was… alright. The scythe was as cool as we hoped, but the reveal itself was a bit lacklustre. I'm sure a few of you disagree but that's just what I personally thought of it.**

**-Roman and Neo.**

**To be perfectly honest, I was pretty sad that Roman died this quickly. He'd just been brought back only to die to an Alpha Griffon. Well, he was eaten **_**whole**_** then thrown out of camera shot briefly before he blew up, so it could be argued he escaped. Either way, he's gone for now. What I will make of this in later chapters is left to be seen. Neo falling off of the airship? Well… at least we know there are either some limitations to her 'teleportation' or she can't teleport. If she could then she would've used it to get back on the airship so something happened there. Roman's apparently genuine concern for her was good as well. I want her to join the good guys now. Or at least talk. But hey, this frees her up to be paired with Jaune so, NeoxJaune shippers rejoice.**

**There are many other things that happened that were pretty game changing, but I'll leave them for now. If you have any questions or comments please send them in a PM, I'll try to answer them as quickly as possible.**

**Please leave a follow and a favourite if you enjoyed, and a review about your thoughts on the chapter. As always, those who spot a specific reference will get a cookie crumb and strawberry pancake.**


	21. Chapter 21- Karma At Its Finest

**So… uh, remember when I said this wouldn't take more than a month? It only took a month this time. Progress! Anyway, welcome back to another chapter of Jaune's Guilty Pleasure everyone! Sorry it took so long again, but hey, at least it was somewhat faster than last time.**

**I don't have any announcements to make, but the next chapter **_**should **_**come out faster. Unfortunately **_**should**_** doesn't mean **_**will**_**. It's up to life and whether or not it feels like screwing me over I guess. We all have those times so it's up to us to make the most of when we're on the up.**

**On another note, Reviews!**

**Cloy552: **You should be very scared. Muahahaha. Though that was a pretty good idea, I don't really see Jaune risking something like that. Especially after he's trying so hard to keep it a secret.

**dracohalo117: **Yes they have. Concerning the Pyrrha thing, to be fair she didn't know what Cinder was going to do. She just thought she should at least try to stop it. I _am_ however kind of confused as to why Ruby didn't use her semblance then, but used it to win a food fight.

**Victor L:** Apparently a lot of people were fans of Alice, which was a major shock for me. I had always planned on bringing her back but so much support for her surprised me. The 'Painting The Town' Arc (and its aftermath) will be very fun to do. I agree with you about the Roman speech, it did seem like he was trying to convince himself that what he was doing was right.

**NinjaFang1331:** Thank you.

**TheHumanoidTyrant: **Hurrah, NeoxJaune, our time has come. Thank you.

**LaughingLefou:** Nice catch. That was indeed what I was referencing. Sorry about the late updates though. It used to be a lot more frequent, around one every week or two. I'm trying to pick that up again but life is busy.

**TehUnoman:** Close. It was technically a shout out to the Immersion that featured Miles (Jaune) and Kerry (Neptune) in a Metal-Gear-Esque situation. Also Barbara (Yang) was in it too.

**RyoTheSaiyan:** They are indeed. Yes that was a reference, and also a very true fact about Beacon.

**Benthino:** Thank you! Roman and Pyrrha were good characters. Roman made even the creators sad to get rid of. Pyrrha too, but she was a good guy so that was a given.

**VibeKiller:** Thank you. I was trying to keep Roman's association with the White Fang away from Jaune for the most part, at least until it is absolutely necessary.

**RPGPersona:** Technically it was Neptune's idea to bring them into the game. Now imagine cookie crumb strawberry pancakes with maple syrup, butter and sugar. I too want Jaune to survive, but he _is_ technically still a side character despite probably having the most character development of all the other characters.

**Chuggapyro:** Thank you. There will only be a few original characters to help make the story run a bit more smoothly, such as people to run the facilities at Beacon (Jay and Amethyst). The Nora shops will soon take over the world and feed sloths everywhere! The boat pancakes will make an appearance later in what will honestly be one of my most favourite scenes.

**SaiPrime:** Correct, Correct, Correct… kind of. That last one was unintentional. I actually just accidentally wrote knee instead of heel.

**serialkeller:** Well although he has a bit more training and is at least a little more competent than Canon Jaune, he still isn't an 'absolute boss' because he hasn't formally been trained at a combat school unlike everyone else. He is still learning about things about his semblance as well because he's never actually used it against a hunter before.

**ChromeWolfXZ:** Yes it was a Million Dollars But… reference.

**Dragonsong2795:** Thank you!

**correnhimself316: **Nope, Roman is.

**Dark Durian:** Thanks for your comments. All of them. People don't normally comment on every chapter after reading it so it was nice to see your thoughts on and reactions to each one. His semblance is ridiculously powerful, but it has its limits. Thankfully I wasn't the only one who thought it was a bow. Cinder's 'low blow' really threw a wrench in his plans.

**The Immortal Doctor Reid: **SAO Abridged was, and still is one of the funniest things on the internet.

**thehidden6lade: **Yes those were references! I feel like Roman's death was both hilarious, but unsatisfying for a villain like him.

**Demetrion (Guest):** Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy it.

**Guest (Guest):** That was part of the point, sorry if you didn't like it.

**Gabriel H. Sapphire:** Thank you.

**And that is all for now.**

**I'd like to give a shout out to these references people picked out in the previous chapter:**  
**-The 'Dumb RWBY' comic.**  
**-The Metal Gear Immersion episode/Metal Gear.**  
**-Kegi Springfield's RWBY x DFrag drawing.**  
**-Million Dollars But…**  
**-Alice in Wonderland.**  
**-LaughingLefou's Immortal.**

**I was told by a good friend that this story has made it to the first page when you go to the RWBY fanfics section and sort by follows. I honestly thought they were pulling my leg until I searched it up, and indeed it was! So, thank you **_**all**_** for bringing this story to where it is now. Time to celebrate until another, better story knocks it back down.**

**Speaking of better stories, and better author by extension, I don't know how Coeur Al'Aran does it. Finding time to update so many amazing fanfics over the span of two weeks. You should go read them, I guarantee you will not regret it. My personal favourite is Professor Arc.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or anything I reference or show within the chapter, they all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 21- Karma At Its Finest

"Jaune, why are we doing this?" Queried Ruby curiously, watching in mute horror as he slowly carried her baby Crescent Rose away. The knight gave a loud huff as he hoisted the oversized gardening tool away towards the table of weapons. From next to the her partner Weiss nodded in agreement,

"I too don't see the benefit of taking our weapons away." Commented the heiress, ignoring the increasingly irritating looks of affection from a certain blue haired newcomer.

"Today Ruby, Snow Ang- Weiss." He corrected himself when the white haired dust meister growled at him, "We will be spending some time to learn a weapon other than our own." Explained the blond as he walked up to their weapons. "Sometimes your weapon won't exactly be available to you, and you might have to use another one. This is why I propose we swap weapons for a couple of hours and teach each other how to use them." Jaune grinned as he received collective nods. All right, now all he needed to do was find Blake and get her to teach him how to use-

"Okay, let's go Jaune!" Cheered Ruby as she grabbed Crocea Mors and began to drag him away against his will. He stared confusedly at Ruby. The rose, noticing his confusion, gave him an innocent smile. "You're holding Crescent so we're gonna be partners, duh." She stated as if it were the most obvious thing in her opinion.

"I mean, we don't have to be partners if you don't want to Ruby." Laughed the knight nervously. His plans! He was going to learn how to fight Grimm with a gun!

The younger girl gave him a knowing smirk, "C'mon Jaune, I know the whole reason you wanted to do this exercise was to use Crescent." _Well it was to use Gambol's pistol form so you're half right._ He commented mentally. "-And I know that when you walk behind me you're always looking at my lower back, so I know you've had you're eyes on Crescent for a while." _Since when!?_ He felt the temperature in the room drop several degrees in temperature before almost tripling in heat. That was definitely Yang. Curse his introverted reflex to look at the ground as he walked. A problem he was sure many men had to this day.

"I object to that statement." Cried the blond writer as he held his arm up, "And I think it would be better if I had another partner maybe?... Preferably someone with a relatively easier weapon to use?" He watched sadly as his chances to get some actual handgun training go down the drain.

Ruby turned back to the group, "Well even if you wanted to, everyone else is already grouped up." Jaune looked up to see that the others already had their partner's for the exercise. "So it's gonna be you and me Jaune!" _But, handgun..._ The young girl gave him a strange look upon noting his reluctance. "Or is there some other specific reason for doing this exercise?" He laughed and nervously waved it off, gesturing towards Crescent.

"Of course not, I uh, was just wondering how you swing that around so easily." He covered smoothly, staring at the gardening tool in his hands. "Although it isn't as heavy as I thought it would be, it feels kind of weird to hold." He commented as he absentmindedly spun the weapon around. The black and red haired girl frowned but decided to let it go,

"So how do we do this?" Queried the rose as she unsheathed Crocea Mors like she had seen Jaune do hundreds of times. The blond author stared at the red scythe in his hands blankly,

"Uh, first we need to learn how to use the weapons so that we can spar." He answered halfheartedly. "So with Crocea Mors that button over there extends the sheath into a shield." Ruby nodded, pressing the part of the shield he pointed at. She watched in awe as the weapon expanded to become a sizeable shield. "You need to make sure you keep the shield in front and keep yourself lower to the ground." He added proudly, using what he had learnt from Pyrrha to teach the younger red haired girl. Had this been what she had felt like tutoring him? It was a warm feeling, knowing you could transfer your knowledge to someone else. He gazed over to the window towards the direction of Beacon. Was this how the professors felt? If that was the case it wouldn't be too bad being a teacher, helping the new generation succeed.

"Like this?" Asked Ruby unsurely as she followed his instructions, moving into stance. Jaune blinked at the young prodigy. Apparently the feeling all goes down the drain when the new generation succeeds _too_ quickly. It had taken him weeks under Pyrrha's tutelage for him to finally nail a proper stance. She'd made him stand in front of a mirror for a full three hours, teaching him about the correct positioning of the limbs. He sighed,

"That's… perfect." He laughed, talk about putting things into perspective. "So how do I use this?" He asked, holding up the scythe.

Ruby stared at him with narrowed eyes, analysing what the best method of approaching the explanation would be. Uncle Qrow's explanation had worked for her, so why not Jaune? "You need to swing it around your body as if you were trying to become a giant cookie!" She stated proudly.

"..." The young author sighed, _this might take a while._

* * *

Weiss' eye twitched as she held Magnhild in her arms. How did things come to this? Why was _she_ paired with _Nora_? Surely Yang would have been a better choice for a partner? Explosive weapons seemed right up their alley after all. She watched as Nora bounced around, flailing her precious weapon wildly. Thankfully she had emptied the rapier of dust before the girl could have the chance to blow up the entire training arena with it. Though she wouldn't put it past the Valkyrie to somehow make a mess with just Myrtenaster. The heiress gave a light sigh, walking over to the energetic girl. "Now, I've taken out the dust so you don't blow us all up." Explained the white haired girl as she approached. Nora pouted but didn't make a comment. "If you want to use Myrtenaster properly then stop flailing it about like a dunce. It is a sophisticated weapon that, if used with careful timing and finesse, can be very graceful and deadly in combat." The pancake lover nodded slowly,

"Ok… So if it _did_ have dust in it. How would you use it?" Asked the girl innocently. Weiss frowned,

"Well, if there _was_ dust in it, all you would need to do to activate it is enable the dust you want to apply then pull the trigger. However, the effects vary depending on the type of dust. Some can only be used properly with my semblance." Stated the heiress with a little bit of pride. It was a weapon fit for a Schnee. Nora grinned,

"Thanks." She stated simply. The Valkyrie kept her grin up as she spun the barrel, landing on a vial of dust that Weiss hadn't noticed. Before it could register in her mind the girl had already pulled the trigger, causing the blade to glow a familiar white and hum. "Haha!" She laughed triumphantly, "Now face the wrath of my pointy stabby sword!" Weiss gave an uncharacteristic squeal as her training partner began to swing Myrtenaster wildly once again. She frowned as she noticed something about the young woman's look that she really should've noticed earlier.

"Wait, Nora are those my clothes?" She asked confusedly. The girl grinned with a nod, doing a slight twirl to show it off.

"Yep! They kind of fit me, but the chest area is _really_ tight. How do you fit in these?" Unfortunately the white haired girl had no time to complain or make any further comment about her statement as the Valkyrie began to swing the rapier a little too close to her face for comfort.

"Nora, watch where you swing it!" Yelled the heiress, "What dust is that? Wait, how did you even get that vial?" _I could've sworn I took them all out_. She rolled to the right, avoiding a lunge from the girl,

Nora smiled childishly, "Well I was walking around when I saw a really bright light coming from a door." She started, "And when I looked inside there was a bunch of vials of dust. So I decided to take some of the shiniest ones!" In other words even she didn't know what type of dust it was. With all the elements of dust available to such a prestigious training facility, it could practically be anything. The Valkyrie grabbed another vial from… somewhere, and placed it in the Multi Action Dust Rapier. "This one is the same colour as pancakes, so by that logic it creates pancakes!" Weiss blinked, perplexed by the pancake lover. At least, more than she usually was.

"Nora pancakes aren't normally blue." Pointed out the heiress, unsure of whether she was correct in that assumption. The look of utter confusion from the orange haired girl combined with the sureness in her claim made the young woman question whether or not pancakes were or were not blue. Clearly she had never seen what Nora deigned as pancakes.

The girl currently wielding Myrtenaster frowned as she swung the rapier around, looking as if she was trying to call forth some genie. "Weiss it isn't working." Complained the young woman. "Why isn't it doing anything?" The white haired fencer rolled her eyes,

"I'm not telling you. The second I do this building will blow up." She snapped. Once more the sloth queen pouted at the heiress. How else was she supposed to make pancakes? Weiss felt a shiver go down her spine. Over her time at Beacon, specifically the time she spent with her team, the heiress had gained a sixth sense for when someone had an idea that would end up in her getting blamed. It helped her get out of a lot of predicaments concerning her team, and would further serve to prevent Yang's antics. "Nora." She started slowly, "Whatever you're thinking of doing. Don't." Nora gave her the widest grin she'd ever seen, which is saying something because she saw Yang before she started the longest, most unnecessary plan to mess with Blake. She still couldn't believe what the blond could do with a bag of tuna, some rope, dominoes and 27.3 bottles of forever fall tree sap. Even to this very day their black haired team mate was afraid of orange turtles , Jaune when he was high on sap, and exactly three chickens. Only when there were three in one place. Though, to be fair to her, everyone was afraid of Jaune on sap. At least everyone except Nora.

Speaking of the hyperactive sloth queen, the girl had inserted another vial of dust into the chamber and was currently holding a vial of red dust. "Cast fireball!" She cried childishly, throwing up the dust vial. Before Weiss could act upon it Nora pulled the trigger, causing a burst of wind to fly from the tip of the rapier and sending the vial flying.

Straight into Ruby.

Fortunately for the younger girl the force of the impact wasn't enough to knock her over or smash the vial, just enough to open it. Unfortunately, that triggered Ruby's sneezing reflex. Long story short, the poor girl had a repeat of day one. Nora cheered, "It worked!" Weiss sighed, once again her sixth sense was correct. "Now cast ice!" She yelled, throwing up a vial of a shiny white dust.

Weiss' eyes widened, "Nora that isn't ice dust!" Being too late to stop the over-active girl was apparently the trend of the day for her. By the time she had finished her sentence Nora had already pulled the trigger, sending the vial towards the white haired girl.

* * *

"Someone help!" Cried Jaune hysterically. How did Ruby deal with the recoil of this thing? He screamed loudly at a pitch that no one could hear as he was sent hurtling in a random direction each time he so much as looked at the trigger. "Ruby how do I control this thing?" Yelled the boy between gunshots. The younger girl trailed behind him, Crocea Mors in hand, comically trying to catch up to the blond knight.

"Just stop pulling the trigger!" She yelled back helpfully. He rolled his eyes, did she really think he was doing this on purpose? The young author squealed once more as the gun sent him skywards, jerking his arm with it. "Try letting go!" And risk a killer gardening tool decapitating someone?

"Ruby your ideas aren't helping!" He exclaimed in dismay. He felt the weapon swing the other way, narrowly missing Ren. "Sorry!" He called out. Jaune began to scream once more as Crescent Rose loosed three more bullets, he clung to the handle for dear life once it began to achieve lift off. "Is this thing supposed to fly?" The young weapons expert nodded proudly, she'd made her baby so powerful that repeated firing could make anyone holding it go up. That way if she needed an express elevator she could always count on Crescent. It had only been a few seconds and Jaune was already on the eighth floor.

Jaune stared at the ground in confusion, a sudden feeling of falling -and motion sickness- surging through his body. "Uh, Ruby?" He laughed nervously. "I think it's out of ammo." _Oh dear_. Was his last thought before he began screaming.

Ruby called out to him once more with slightly better help, "Jaune don't worry, all you need to do is-" Unfortunately for the falling student the girl was hit by a red vial of dust, interrupting her mid-sentence with a sneeze-induced explosion.

"Ruby stop exploding and tell me what to do!" He shouted impatiently. The ground wasn't going to wait forever. To be perfectly honest he was surprised he had this much time already. The writer stared at the ground as it hurtled towards him at an alarming rate, _wait, why is there a white spot in the training arena?_

"Nora that isn't ice dust!" Shouted the spot hurriedly. Jaune gasped, dear dust the spot was Weiss. If this fall didn't kill him she would.

"Weiss watch out!" The girl turned her head to him and staggered back, surprised by the novice knight's sudden appearance. He would've let out a sigh of relief if he hadn't of hit the floor before he could. The white haired heiress winced upon his sudden intimacy with the floor. A perfect Jaune-sized crater lay exactly where he landed, framing his body almost comically. To her surprise he got up without so much as a scratch and was even laughing silently to himself, "Right, forgot that aura was a thing." He mumbled to himself. "Well that could've been a lot worse-" Just like his fellow leader, Jaune too was interrupted by a vial of dust.

Weiss suppressed a gasp as he was nailed directly on the back of his head, cracking open the glass like an egg. Luckily most of the dust stayed in the vial, with only a few falling out of the shattered container. _'Well, master always _was_ hardheaded_.' commented Alice with a giggle. "Uh, are you alright Jaune?" She asked unsure. None of what happened was her fault. Absolutely none of it.

He scoffed, "Yes Weiss-Queen, I fell from eight stories high and got hit on head with a container of dust but I'm still absolutely peachy."Stated the young author sarcastically. He blinked, "Wait, did I say that out loud?"

Ruby groaned, finally managing to catch up to the knight now that he was no longer flying across the room like a moth. She panted slightly, apparently chasing after a blond on the Grimm-killing weapon equivalent of a pogo stick left one out of breath. "Weiss-Queen? Did you just make a bad pun?" Jaune nodded enthusiastically, handing over Crescent.

"That I did Rubes. By the way, your weapon is absolutely crazy and I never want to touch it again-" He shut his mouth instantly upon realising what he had said. What was going on? Words just flew out of his mouth before he could process it, let alone think about whether or not people would murder him if he said it.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at the knight, "Is something wrong Jaune?" She asked carefully after noting his expression. Jaune shook his head negative, not taking his hand off of his mouth. Everything was fine. The heiress frowned, "You must think pretty badly of me if you believe that would suggest otherwise."

The head shaking intensified as his eyes widened in fear. Upsetting Weiss was not something you wanted to do if you liked living. Unless you were Yang, then she is free game. Ruby frowned, "You don't need to lie to us Jaune." They were fellow leaders and besties, and Weiss was... Weiss. He could trust them. Her frown turned into a pout,

Jaune let out a small annoyed laugh, "My problem is I can't lie!" He half-shouted, managing to catch himself before he fully broke out. "That vial of dust was Verity Dust." He continued with a softer tone. "I physically cannot lie." Thankfully it wasn't too much or he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

Weiss nodded slowly, "Well, considering it's Jaune he won't be very different. But he does seem a little more easily irritated." Ruby nodded along, Jaune was Jaune, he only lied to get out of revealing something embarrassing or if Miss Goodwitch was going to murder him.

"Is there a way we can tell?" She wondered aloud 'innocently', a mischievous grin spread widely on her face. The white haired girl smirked along with her leader, the younger student's mischievousness was incredibly contagious. "Hey Jaune." The blond held his hands to his mouth once more, shaking his head vehemently. _Please no. _He pleaded mentally. "What was your most embarrassing memory from when you were a kid?"

The hunter in training said nothing, he couldn't be forced to tell the truth if he didn't talk at all. Yang and Ren approached the three curiously. "What's up with Vomit Boy Rubes?" Queried the busty brawler, taking a good look at his strained face.

"Nora hit him with some Verity Dust." Explained the reaper, "Weiss and I are trying to see if it has taken effect." The young writer whimpered when a grin the size of a veteran Nevermore's wingspan grew on his fellow blond's face. This was no going to end well. At all.

"Ooh, how is it going? Is he spilling some juicy secrets? Details woman!" Yang laughed evilly as she rubbed the palms of her hands together like a cliché villain. This would make excellent blackmail material for when she'd need Jaune to do something. And it was _when_ not _if_.

Ruby shook her head negative. They couldn't get him to talk. Literally. The knight turned to his male teammate pleadingly, "Ren help me!" He cried. The black haired boy sighed, giving him a weak smile.

"If I so much as thought about helping you Yang will punch me into next week. Besides, I too am curious as to what secrets you're keeping." In other words, 'better you than me'. Jaune gasped,

"You traitor! How could you leave me to these devil women?" He quickly covered his big mouth once more. This would not end well for him. If he didn't know better, he could've sworn he heard hysterical laughter coming from Ren's direction. "Don't hurt me!"

Ruby nodded, "So Jaune, what is your most embarrassing memory?" She asked unassumingly. According to her Uncle Qrow people were likely to talk unconsciously when using a casual tone. She resisted cheering 'it worked' when it, well, began to work.

The young male held a hand to his chin, stroking it in thought as if he had a beard. "Well, I was rather unlucky as a child so there were a lot of things that happened that I'd rather forget, but if I had to choose one it would be the day that I got to sit next to my crush on an airship ride. It was unfortunately the same day where I learnt I had motion sickness. No wait-" he covered his mouth once he realised what had happened. The laughter from Ren's direction increased in volume as another pair of laughter accompanied it.

Yang grinned, time for blackmail. "So who's the most attractive female you know?" Before he could unwillingly answer Pyrrha appeared to teleport beside the blond brawler within a second, leaving the black haired Faunus she was swapping weapons with by herself.

"Go on Jaune. It's better to let it out." She urged on.

He shook his head, his hands firmly placed over his mouth. He was now a tightly locked safe. He wouldn't give them an inch. Because if he gave them an inch they would take a mile.

At least, not until Yang pulled out the gauntlets. "Do you mean physically attractive?" He asked slowly, surveying his surroundings carefully to find some way out as he stalled.

The brawler raised her brow but said nothing as the red haired Spartan next to her nodded, her eyes glimmering slightly. He closed his eyes tightly as he pointed in a random direction, away from everyone else. It wasn't lying if he didn't know that he might not actually be telling the truth… right? Four pairs of eyes turned in the direction of his finger interested- only to see a wall and when they turned back to the knight all that remained was the slightly shattered vial of dust that had hit him on the head lying on the floor.

* * *

Jaune sighed contentedly, taking a nice long sip of his milky white beverage. Whoever thought of adding hot chocolate and white chocolate together was a genius. Miraculously, no one had found him in the library yet. Which meant he either managed to get away, or they just didn't bother looking. The knight hoped it was the latter, he couldn't last another question. Verity Dust was nothing to sneeze at, it was very powerful and he didn't even know how it worked.

The young blond gave a light smirk, gently lowering the mug onto the table. He just needed to stay there until it wore off. Stored dust crystals were much less potent than refined dust, so it shouldn't take any longer than a few hours. Jaune swirled the contents in the cup, idly watching it spin. Taking out a newspaper he began to casually look over the articles. "'Fish learns how to walk' hoax exposed, 5 things about beowolves you don't know, 100% of people that breathe oxygen die, People like grapes... The break ins continue?" He looked at the last article curiously. Was this regarding that case Ren was talking about a few weeks ago?

'Yesterday, a sixth establishment has been hit by the serial thief. For the first time within this string of robberies a victim has been found murdered with the thief's calling card. The last few cases have almost finished the circle on the map, allowing the police to narrow down the where the next, and possibly last, establishment will be.'

Jaune stared at the small map of Vale. On the map was a circle/heptagon that outlined where the victims of the serial thief were. He raised a brow, three more places had been hit since he had last heard about the case. _Nature's Delight, Apple-Gorilla-Chicken, Ninth-street Dust Shop._ He read to himself. Supposedly, they had nothing in common and none of the establishments were related in any way, at least, so says the newspaper. The owners were a mix of both Faunus and humans, however the victim that was murdered was a Faunus shot in the head.

He looked over the case notes, silently analysing it for any semblance of relation. _Both Faunus and humans were stolen from until a Faunus man was killed in the latest case._ He looked over the map and the names of the businesses affected once more, trying to think where exactly the serial thief would strike next. The blond gasped, "There's no way that it would be-?" It made too much sense, but he didn't want to believe it. The next place to be hit is going to be-

The muffled sound of a chair being pulled back mildly alerted the author. "What's up?" Greeted Sun. The over-the-top shoulder slap knocked him back to reality, sound coming back to his ears as his prior thoughts flew out of focus. "What happened during your little training get together? I could hear your girlish screams from the simulation room."

Jaune laughed nervously, "Well, I learnt that Ruby's weapon was definitely made with her in mind and told everyone about that one time I vomited on the bus." The monkey faunus blinked,

"You mean when you first learned that you had motion sickness?" The knight nodded, "How did they manage to get you to say that? I thought you said you would take that to your grave?" The blond writer glared at his friend. The laughs coming from a half-clothed thief really did not help the situation.

"Well thanks to Nora's antics I'm currently under the effects of some Verity Dust. Mind you it was still crystals so it'll wear off in a couple of hours." He explained. "Until then I'm stuck like this." He took another sip of his cup. Irony was a pain sometimes.

Sun grinned, "So what's the secret you don't want them to find out?" He definitely wasn't asked by Blake to get it out of him.

Jaune sighed, "I really don't have any secrets that I'm not fine with telling them except for the fact that I'm-" A loud slap cut him off quickly, thankfully stopping him from spilling his secret. "That was close." Sun blinked. Did he just, slap himself?

"Dude are you alright?" The knight felt a hand grab his shoulder worriedly. "That was a bit much for a secret." He gave a halfhearted laugh, was he alright? Keeping a secret was painful. Literally. More so now than ever. How he managed to stifle the impulse to tell the truth was beyond him, but at least he had yet to spill his biggest secret. "Jaune, what are you keeping from everyone else?"

Sun knew Jaune, he'd known him for several years in fact, and if his past experiences with him told him anything it was that he was the world's worst, greatest secret keeper. To put it simply, Jaune was fairly good at keeping secrets, within good reason of course, but not telling anyone something can be painful. Especially to the goody-two-shoes Jaune who felt bad about lying to someone.

The knight took a deep breath. He had already resolved to do this several days back, what difference was it telling him whilst under the influence of Verity Dust? If anything it made things easier. At least he wouldn't bumble about. "I'm Jane Caur." Jaune blinked, that flowed out a lot faster than he expected. Hesitantly looking to his left, the author observed warily for any form of negative reaction. Then any form of reaction at all. After a couple minutes of adorning a blank expression the blond faunus finally spoke.

"Who's Jane Caur?" And like that all of the resolve he had put together felt meaningless. It was embarrassing, to think he had the gall to believe that _everyone_ in the world knew who 'Jane Caur' was. After all, why would Sun read books? "Wait, isn't she that woman who writes smut."

Jaune slammed his head on the table, the noise gathering the attention of the few students and staff around them. After a moment of silence the onlookers disregarded it as sleep deprivation. "Why?" Mumbled the boy with a groan, still not taking his head off of the table. "It's not smut…" Finally it clicked in the thief's mind what his childhood friend had been talking about.

"Wait, you write those- er, books?" He exclaimed loud enough that Grimm probably heard him, once again gaining the attention of the surrounding audience. Taking quick action, the novice knight cupped a hand over the boy's mouth. Using the other to make a 'shh' gesture he slowly took his hand off. "Does that mean you've been a girl this whole time?" Whispered Sun, making sure to not yell. "I mean, I always had a feeling but-" The sound of Jaune hitting his head on the table stopped the train of thought dead.

"Jaune if you break that table you have to pay for it." Commented Jay, casually passing some students their order. The young male refrained from flipping off the black haired waiter/mail person and instead gave Sun a dead look.

"Sun. You, my friend, never cease to amaze me with your… wit." He stated slowly, his voice akin to one of defeat with a hint of strangling annoyance.

The blond monkey grinned, "Thanks! Wait, was that an insult?" Jaune rolled his eyes,

"You figure that out yourself." Days, weeks, even years of self-preparation for the moment where he would tell one of his friends, that he would eventually get, that he was the 'famed' Jane Caur. All culminating into… this. It was laughable really. "To answer your question, no. I am not a girl. That is just an alias I use for when I write. After all, no one would believe someone as young as I was could write like that." Sun nodded, sort of understanding.

"So why did you want to keep this from the others?" He asked, shifting around in his seat to get comfortable.

Jaune moved to take another sip of his cup only to realise that headbutting the table twice had the unfortunate effect of knocking it over, spilling the contents all over the right side of the rounded piece of furniture. He frowned, "Could you imagine what someone would do if they found out the middle-aged, female writer they admire was actually a young male? If they didn't maul or strangle me to death over that it would be because I would accidentally spill the fact that I used some of them as material- oh Verity Dust why did you do that?" Well that was something he hadn't been ready to admit… ever. "So uh, did you want to order anything?" He asked, awkwardly trying to change the subject.

The young Faunus shook his head negative, something told him he wouldn't be there for much longer. He gave his fellow blond a look, "So by material do you mean…?" He trailed off after seeing that Jaune knew exactly what he meant. The knight shuddered,

"Well yes, I use them as a basis of some characters in the stories but that doesn't mean I- to be frank they would kill me." The very thought of what certain people would do to him both intimidated and terrified him. There had been rumours passed around among the first year males that someone had simply _looked_ at Yang wrong and she destroyed an entire club.

Sun nodded slowly, he definitely could see why Jaune would be terrified of his female friends. Team RWBY were a force to be reckoned with, and Nora and Pyrrha were crazily powerful as well. Also, if what Velvet told him about Coco was correct, that handbag would destroy whatever remained of him. "Dude, you're screwed. And not in the good way."

"Now you see why I could only tell you? Dust, I'm lucky that you found me first." If the others found him he'd clearly be unable to stop himself. "I'm surprised they haven't seen me yet, normally my luck is terrible. Maybe it's finally turned arou-" He slammed his head on the table once more. Did he, a writer, just fall for one of the biggest clichés in literature? Sun snickered,

"Dude, you just triggered a death flag." He managed to get out between laughs.

"Quiet you." Silenced the blond author with a glare, "I'm just going to leave before they arrive." He moved to get out of his seat when the library doors slammed open to show Ruby,

"Found you!" Shouted the girl as she walked in, followed by Nora. "Has the dust worn off yet?" She asked curiously.

Jaune nodded, "No it hasn't. Wait- dammit!" The Faunus thief burst into laughter. That's why triggering death flags was a bad idea. "Gotta go!" The blond student tipped an imaginary hat before dashing out the back of the room, Sun trailing behind slowly while laughing hysterically. Ruby tilted her head, confused by the sudden escape.

"Why did he leave Nora? We were only going to tell him about the hot spring." Asked the rose. "Nora?" She turned around to see the girl devouring a plate of pancakes at the café.

The Valkyrie grinned, nothing was better than free pancakes and the comic section of the newspaper. Shoving another pancake into the endless pancake void that was her mouth her eyes turned to the daily word scramble. "Ooh the answer's sloth! Ooh, and this one is queen! Ooh, this one is my fearless leader! But they did it wrong." Ruby blinked,

"What do you mean? Why is Jaune in the daily word scramble?" Nora shrugged at the question,

"I don't know, but they did it wrong. He told me himself, his name is Jaune-Jaune Arc." The young reaper nodded slowly, she didn't know his full name was Jaune-Jaune. She'd have to apologize to him later, what kind of best friend didn't know that?

She frowned as she looked at the hints, "Nora it says that it's a famous writer here." Nora nodded,

"Yeah, I saw our fearless leader writing something while the sloth habitat was still in construction. Since he's so good at literature he _must_ be a good writer!" Ruby frowned, that didn't particularly mean that he was a _famous_ writer. Though Blake was a pretty avid reader so she would definitely know if Jaune wrote books. Unfortunately the cat Faunus was currently with everyone else in the hot springs, which was on the other side of Pharos. Where else could they find out if Jaune had written a book before?

"If only there was a place that has a bunch of books, we'd be able to look through them for one that Jaune wro- we're in a library." She sighed, maybe she should rely less on Weiss and Jaune for strategies?

* * *

"So you're telling me, this whole time there was a hot spring that could wash away the effects of most dust?" Why was Sun only telling this to him now? The two blonds walked up to the sign in front of the room, "This hot spring cleanses you of the effects of most dust, so feel free to experiment with it in our dust room." The young Faunus looked at the fine print,

"Note: This will wash away all dust except fire dust. If you spontaneously combust in the spring please call this number:" He read aloud. Jaune blinked, _wait, spontaneously combust? _He gave the sign an incredulous look. Wouldn't that be the complete opposite?

"Why would water wash away everything except fire?" Sun shrugged, he wasn't Weiss so how would he know?

"That doesn't matter, let's go in!" The two leaders cheered before entering. "Whoa, the heat really hits you huh?" Commented the blond monkey. The knight nodded, he could already feel the sweat beading on his skin. "There's the male spring." Pointed out the thief. "Last one in's a burned banana!" Jaune grinned,

"You're on!"

The two hurried into the changing rooms, already taking their shirts off before they reached the door. Quickly picking a locker, the writer threw his things in. He was halfway through tying on his towel when Sun threw one at his face using his tail, blinding him and stopping his progress momentarily. "Hey, no throwing!" By the time he had taken off the towel the blond Faunus had already run out the door,

As he entered the spring area the leader of Team SSSN gave him a grin from the opposite side of the water, "I won." He laughed victoriously. Jaune rolled his eyes, deciding not to deign him the pleasure of a verbal comment. The knight looked in awe at the spring. Although the steam emanating off of the water obscured his vision a fair amount he could still take in its beauty.

"I didn't know this was an outdoor spring." He said as he walked up to the grey stones that lined the water's edge. After taking a few short touches to test the water, he slowly entered the spring. The two blonds exhaled deeply, "This is nice." Sun nodded lazily in agreement, it was nice to soak out their ailments before they left to head back to Beacon. It'd be a shame to leave such a great place but there were still classes to be done. Jaune laid his head back onto a rock, finding the perfect groove for his head to rest in, and looked up at the sky. The steam tinted it's normally blue colour a faint white.

"So has it worn off yet?" Asked Sun curiously. Jaune shrugged, there was only one way to find out. "Who was your first crush?"

"That skateboard girl back in- it hasn't worked yet." He stopped himself mid-sentence by giving his face a good slap once again. The two males sighed, "We should probably give it more time." He suggested. Sun shrugged, once more, he wasn't Weiss.

"I still can't believe you wear a push-up bra Weiss-cream. Sorry if you hadn't realised, but zero times two is still zero." Teased a voice from the other side of the divider.

"I am not flat Yang!" Complained the heiress madly. The party girl gave her a grin,

"Alright, alright. No need to get so down Ice Queen. C'mon, stand proud, chin up and chest out!" Weiss narrowed her eyes,

"You'd better not have just implied that my chest was flat again. Because it's not!" Yang blinked,

"That's not what I-"

"They're a perfectly adequate size!" Growled the white haired girl. "Adequate! Blake, tell your partner!" The bookworm rolled her eyes,

"Yang, stop picking on Weiss. She doesn't like hearing the truth." Chided the black haired Faunus. The heiress nodded,

"Yeah- wait, that was an insult!"

By pure instinct Jaune submerged his head underwater, "Dude, what are you doing?" Asked Sun perplexed by the boy's actions. However, he didn't receive an answer considering his conversation partner was underwater.

After coming back out of the water and meeting his fellow blond's gaze the writer gave an awkward laugh, "Sorry, that was my survival instincts kicking in." He explained vaguely. The other male ignored it in favor of bringing up his latest idea.

Sun grinned, "The girls are in the other spring. Do you know what this means?" Jaune cocked his head to the side briefly,

"No?" Surely he wasn't implying _that_. Sun knew enough not to go down such a cliché path like that... right?

Suddenly standing up the monkey Faunus struck a pose, pointing towards the female spring. "We have to go peep on them!" Jaune slowly waded away from the blond. Did he have a death wish? Doing that would be suicide! If he wanted to die so badly then he should just run into a pack of Beowolves. At least they would be humane about it.

"You do what you want, I'm not having any part of it." Sun frowned,

"C'mon!" He pleaded, "Think of it like, uh, research for your smu- er, books." He took a step back when the blond's eyes began to twinkle,

"Research?" The Faunus smirked at the sudden change in expression, _I don't know how, but it worked!_ He laughed mentally. Jaune put on a thoughtful expression, "I haven't tried a scene where the protagonist gets brutally mauled after trying to take a peek at the hot springs yet." He muttered silently. The knight grinned and nodded, "Alright, do it." Sun grinned back and began to climb the small tree beside the divider to the women's springs. "Oh, and while you get slaughtered can you look this way so I can catch the expression on your face? I need to record your emotions." He added,

Sun nodded automatically, already halfway up the tree. "Ok- wait what?" He turned to his fellow blond holding a camcorder that he got from… somewhere. "Jaune what are you-" The monkey Faunus stopped mid-sentence upon hearing a faint sound. Jaune snickered as he held up the camcorder, ready for his next bit of research. It worked perfectly because Sun was a Faunus. Of course, he wasn't going to base the protagonist after him, he was over turning his friends into characters. "Um, was that the tree?"

The young author laughed dismissively waving it off, "What? Of course not. Just, uh, keep climbing." He gestured towards the smaller branch, "You can probably get a better view from there." He stated 'helpfully'.

Sun frowned as he heard another cracking sound. "Jaune I'm pretty sure that was the tree." The blond waved it off once more as he set the camcorder to record. Without missing a beat the branch unsurprisingly snapped under the Faunus' weight, causing it to fall on the strangely fragile divider. With a loud crash the wooden divider fell, gaining the attention of the four girls on the other side. Coco gave him a death look. "Uh, that was the tree's fault." Said the leader of SSSN from on top of the branch. Not seeing any reduction in anger from the girls he turned to Jaune for help. "Jaune tell them! And how are you changed already?"

The knight was indeed already changed, somehow. He shrugged, "I got faster at it since you last saw me." He 'explained'. Sun shrugged, still laying on the branch, made sense. When he last saw him it took thirty seconds if he didn't have to take his previous pair of clothes off.

The Faunus shook his head, "Anyway, tell them what happened." He pleaded to the knight, completely forgetting a very important fact.

Jaune sighed, "Sun climbed up a tree to go peek on you but I directed him to a tree branch that would snap under his weight. Which it did." He explained, not realising what he had just said. Sun and Yang glared at him, _that traitorous-_

"So you're saying it's _completely_ Sun's fault, and not yours?" Recapped the brawler. Jaune nodded before slapping himself for what felt like the seventh time that day. Needless to say, they hurt a lot. Weiss scoffed,

"And why should we believe you?" She asked rhetorically, turning to the others. "Should we just kill them and be over with it?" The two boys gulped audibly as the other three women nodded.

Jaune shook his head vehemently, "No, I am telling the truth. I'm still under the effects of the Verity Dust so I can't lie. We actually came here because Sun told me it could cure me of it." He explained,

The heiress rolled her eyes, "Please, if you had Verity Dust on you the fire dust in it would spread around you like bees on honey. This spring would wash away all the other dust until only fire was left, leaving you barbecued." The knight blinked, that was right. Didn't the sign say the spring washed off all dust except for-

The next thing he knew everything went bright for a brief moment before it turned dark.

* * *

The sound of consistently paced tapping filled his ears when he next awoke. It was dark and he couldn't tell where he was nor get a feel for what direction was up. _Why is everything so dark?_ He wondered to himself. The knight tried to blink but his eyelids wouldn't go any further down. _Oh wait, my eyes are closed._ Cracking one eye open he immediately regretted it as he was met with the blindingly bright white of the ceiling, forcing him to close it just as quickly as he could. "-And _that_ Sun, is why spontaneous combustion is bad." Finished a voice. _Neptune?_

A scoff. "Ok… nerd." The voice murmured the last part, he had barely been able to pick it up. The distinct cry of 'I heard that!' was interrupted by a sharp cough, most likely followed by a distinct look of disapproval.

"Let Mr Arc rest." Chided a woman's voice. "Dust knows getting set on fire, followed by almost drowning, goes through quite a bit of a hunter's aura." _Was that, Glynda?_ Sun snickered,

"I can't believe he spontaneously combusted like that." He held back his laughter lest he upset the occupants in the room too much. Although he was worried for a moment when his childhood friend suddenly caught on fire in the middle of a spring, he knew Jaune would be alright. He'd lived through worse.

Silence ensued as Sun had probably been given a death look by someone in the room, leaving the sound of rhythmic tapping to fill his ears once more. It was quite irritating really. Seconds, minutes, possibly hours passed by as nothing happened save for the constant tapping. "How long has it been?"

A groan, "4:13, three minutes since you last asked for the time at 4:10. In three minutes from now when you ask for the time again it will be 4:16." Stated an irritated voice. Most likely Weiss. Silence ensued once more until...

Tapping. Tapping. Tapping. Ta-

"Can someone please stop with the incessant tapping!" Shouted the supposedly unconscious writer, finally opening his eyes- "Gah, my eyes!" -and once more instantly regretting the decision to do so.

"You're alive!" Cried Ruby and Nora as they ran up to him, enveloping him in a bone crushing hug. "We thought that you died!"

Weiss scoffed, "He was just set on fire briefly before he fell into the spring water. If anything, your crushing him while he's low on Aura will kill him." The two girls jumped back, apologising profusely before going in for an apology hug and crushing him once more. Yang grinned,

"Don't mind Weiss-cream here. She was one of the most worried about you." The heiress flushed in embarrassment, turning away from the group as she crossed her arms.

"I-I was just briefly concerned for the wellbeing of one of my… friends. Is that so bad?" She asked rhetorically.

Jaune laughed hoarsely. "Aww, I knew you cared Snow Angel." He teased. She glared daggers at him. "Sorry you guys had to see me in such a bad state though." Who knew getting set on fire would- no wait, taking into account shock, pain, sudden blindness and smoke it was very believable that would happen.

The female blond gave him a wink, "Don't worry 'bout it. Personally, I thought you looked pretty… hot. Eh? Eh?" She nudged him playfully with her elbow as the students and singular teacher around her groaned. Jaune chuckled roughly, though it came out more as strangled coughs and a cry that sounded like a dying flamingo. Kind of.

Taking a good look at his surroundings the young author realised he was sat in a bed at the infirmary. Around the room was Sun, Neptune, Ruby, Weiss, Nora, Yang, Pyrrha, Blake and Goodwitch. "Where are Ren, Velv and Coco?" He asked curiously.

The blue haired male of the group stepped forward. "They all went to the dorm rooms to get our stuff packed and insisted we stay here and make sure you were alright." Explained Neptune. "It's our last day here after all." Jaune nodded, that was right they would be leaving soon. He'd miss the place, after all he couldn't have his morning chocolate while he read anymore. Why didn't Beacon have a café in their library? No offence to Amethyst, but this one was much better.

Goodwitch cleared her throat, gathering the attention of those in the room. "Now that you are all sure that Mr Arc is fine I would like you to head back to your rooms and finish off what packing you have left to do." Stated the deputy, "And before you complain, the airship leaves at five sharp. If you get left behind you must make the journey back by yourself." With the iron will of Glynda set, the students began to begrudgingly exit the room either waving or sending glances at Jaune as they left the room. Pyrrha glanced between the door and the blond knight with an unsure look from the corner of the room she occupied, she hadn't moved from that spot since she entered.

Glynda gave her a reassuring smile, "Miss Nikos, I know you would like to talk to your partner but you'll need to go get ready while the nurse checks to make sure he's completely fine." The Spartan girl nodded slowly, staring at Jaune for a solid minute before she left, as if he would disappear the second she turned away.

Her hand linger over the frame of the doorway for the briefest of moments, considering something, before shaking her head. She gave him a light smile, "I'll see you soon." And with that she left.

Jaune sighed in relief upon noticing that the tapping had stopped at some point after he 'returned to consciousness'. He turned to the combat instructor curiously. "What on Remnant was making that irritating tapping noise?" He queried. The blond teacher smirked uncharacteristically at him,

"Miss Belladonna seemed to be fretting over you quite a bit." She noted casually, "Seeing the normally flat young woman actually worry over something was surprising. It was strange to say the least." Jaune blinked, Blake had been worried for him? He gave a light grin, anything further hurt his face, and chuckled. Maybe he and Yang finally got through to their black haired book buddy.

The witch looked over to the door to her right that had been obscured by Blake and and Pyrrha earlier. "You can check up on him now nurse." The door opened to reveal a black haired boy that seemed to be about the same age as Amethyst.

"You can leave it to me- oh hey Jaune." Waved the young man, pulling down his face mask.

"Jay? I didn't know you were a nurse." Commented the blond, mildly surprised at the blue eyed mail man/bartender/nurse. The older boy shrugged at him,

"It's one of my part-time jobs for the school." He stated as he brought a rather large metallic box towards the bedside. Opening it slowly the knight was treated to the sight of several _very_ sharp equipment. "Now this won't hurt a bit." Said the boy calmly as he took out the largest and pointless of the tools. "At least until I stick this in you. Then it will hurt _a lot_."

Glynda winced as the tool was inserted into his arm. She had seen and been through this procedure many times but still felt uncomfortable seeing it each time. Jay looked at the readings off of the instrument, casually humming a tune. He was genuinely surprised at the young student, he was taking it very well. "Huh, that's the first time someone hasn't screamed after I- oh he fainted." He looked at the readings with a faint grin, "3.14 seconds? That's a new record, I should give him a pie." The witch gave him a pointed look,

"We live in an age where robots can fight monsters and practically anything you can swing turns into a gun." She started, disbelief clear in her tone. "Why then, is it necessary to stick _that_ in the patient's arm to check if they are on fire or not?" A concern she'd had since her early days as a huntress in training would soon be explained. It irked her that such an inconceivably unrelated step was essential to make sure the patient was currently not being barbecued.

Jay laughed, "It isn't."

* * *

Packing was the most exciting part of the journey back to Beacon. The airship ride was surprisingly uneventful so far as Jaune was still 'asleep' after his check-up at the infirmary. Glynda learned that day that the unnecessarily large tool they used to 'check if the patient was on fire' actually just measure how long it took for the patient to fall unconscious, along with a couple of other health-related statistics to make it seem less conspicuous. It was an inside joke that all medical-folk knew of according to Jay after she held him at scalpel-point.

That was beside the point. Currently, Ruby Rose was bored beside her mind and just couldn't wait to get back to her dorm room and pass out. She had the indescribable joy of sitting next to the normally-airsick knight on the way back after losing an incredibly one-sided game of rock, paper, scissors. Apparently scissors didn't fair well against ten rocks. The rose stared silently at his sleeping form as she took a bite out of some extra cookies she had packed for the trip back. She couldn't understand how Jaune couldn't stand being on vehicles, motion sickness seemed like such a strange ailment. If she had motion sickness she wouldn't be able to use her semblance properly, moving a mere few meters would probably cause her to hurl faster than Jaune on a merry-go-round at Mach 1.

Behind her sat Neptune and Ren speaking rather animatedly about their weapons and school work, no doubt being some of the more scholarly of their group. She would join in for their weapon talk if it were not for the sleeping bomb of vomit that was Jaune next to her. Who knew what would wake him up, and she certainly was not keen on finding out. Her eyes turned to the landscape visible from the window as she wistfully sighed. The world outside Vale seemed so vast. All the space in the world and they were confined to living in kingdoms. She wanted to get out, go see the world. Maybe at least go to Haven. "It's a great view isn't it?" Asked a voice from her left. "I'm kind of sad I don't get to enjoy this that often."

"J-Jaune?" Gasped the younger student. "Why aren't you, y'know…" She trailed off, too surprised to speak any further. The blond leader gave a light chuckle at her shocked expression.

"Vomiting? Yeah I was surprised too at first. Nurse Jay gave me something to calm it down for a little while." Ruby tilted her head to the side, _Nurse Jay?_ So he wasn't only in charge of the mail room _and _Nora's bar, but was also a nurse? How many jobs could one man have? "You have silver eyes." He noted casually. The young girl frowned, was it just her or was Jaune a bit more… mellower than usual? "They look like giant eye-like things that are also silver." He stated with a goofy grin.

"Jaune, what did he give you?" She asked hesitantly. The boy held out the container of bright orange pills he had been given. She tentatively took them from his outstretched hand and took a look at the ingredients and warning label. "Warning, may contain traces of Forever Fall sap? Oh dear." Unfortunately, upon looking up from the clear container the boy was nowhere to be seen. The girl sighed, maybe she shouldn't have wished for a more eventful trip?

"Mr Arc get off of that chair!" Scolded Goodwitch from the back. "Stop skateboarding that young man's luggage!" A loud crashing noise resounded throughout the airship, no doubt being the result of Jaune 'stopping' his skateboarding. Nora cheered upon seeing that her fearless leader was once again up for her antics. Blake yelped loudly and hid under a chair like- for lack of a better analogy- a scared cat.

"I is Juan Arc, fear me!" He shouted almost drunkenly. He swayed precariously on the top of Weiss and Yang's seat. "I am Juan- One- Singular- Single. I am single!" He chuckled at his own 'joke'. The blond turned to the two women below him and winked, getting an eye roll from the heiress and a wink back from the boxer. "Oh hey, I can fly!" The group of students turned to see that he was indeed flying. And glowing. And an extremely irritated Glynda Goodwitch was standing behind him.

"Well Mr 'Juan' Arc, why don't we go visit the back room for a bit? I'll give you some… confectioneries." The young writer nodded with a grin.

"I want some of that chocolate with melted chocolate in it!" He cheered. The older woman smirked as she brought him into the back toilet. She gave him a trusting smile and led him to the toilet seat. Then used a rope she got out of… somewhere, to bind him to it.

Jaune stared at the rope curiously, as if trying to assess for some form of weakness. Without warning, the blond began to chew on the rope for a solid minute before coughing out pieces of it. "You lied Miss Glynda!" He cried, "This isn't candy!" The deputy sighed and closed the door on the still complaining boy. After a couple minutes of convincing Blake finally got out from under the seat. She then proceeded to pretend that nothing happened in the usual Blake way.

Ruby sighed along with Glynda from her seat, deciding to pocket the sap-pills. "Note to self, keep these as far away from Jaune as possible." She murmured under her breath. There was no way she was going to let him near them again even if it did get rid of his motion sickness. Getting comfortable once more in her seat she stared out at the landscape with a light smile. "It _is_ a nice view though."

* * *

**And as Ruby looks over the horizon, another day will come to a close. Only a few more original chapters until we arrive back at Canon. What could I possibly have in store for our blond knight that could top his already horrible streak of bad luck? A lot. Not kidding, he will go through hell. Romantic, slapstick-comedy filled hell. Look forward to the next chapter!**

**I'd just like to say thank you once more for all you lovely individuals that have followed, favorited, reviewed or even just decided to give my story a chance and read it. Without you, this would be nothing. And a big thanks to those who were there from the start as well. You are all the best.**

**Those who find a specific reference get a plastic kids Myrtenaster to launch your dust vials with! (Vials and dust not included).**


	22. A Book, A Breadstick and A Fake Cat

**Hello all! Here with another chapter, and earlier this time! It's a miracle!  
So. Who else is excited for RWBY Chibi? I know I am. I didn't know just how much I wanted something like it until it made an appearance. Hopefully it will add a little more detail into what school life at Beacon was like until… yeah. Either that or it'll be a series of cute funny shorts featuring the characters, I am fine with anything. Even if it's just mindless hilarity I will enjoy it all the same.**

**Reviews!**

**garoorar:** Considering Jaune is trying his damnedest to keep it a secret, that may take a while.

**Slenderbrine:** Knowing him he would take all three to be safe.

**Cloy552:** Nora may be... Nora, but when it comes to finding the truth no one can beat the sloth detective!

**Benthino:** If anything, the rope could have been a rope flavoured liquorice?

**Nik41:** Jay may not be the nurse Jaune needed nor wanted, but he was the one he got. (With terrible repercussions.)

**duskrider: **Thank you.

**Dark Durian:** It takes a lot of skill to use a scythe cross sniper rifle to fly, I'd say Jaune was close.

**RPGPersona:** Too embarrassing? He _did _admit he threw up on his crush, and there was a warning sign in front of the spring.

**hirshja: **Surprisingly, no it wasn't. But that is an interesting coincidence.

**Solusipse Tsukiyomi:** ...Eventually?

**RyoTheSaiyan:** As Jaune would put it, "It was a good idea at the time... at least until Crescent Rose went berserk."

**HeadHunter (Guest):** Who said Weiss would end up with Neptune? I have plans.

**Eogos (Guest):** Thank you.

**Mister Tea Time: **I would but that was actually a shout out to LaughingLefou's Immortal. It was mainly used as a joke in mine, so if you're asking for permission to turn the idea into an actual story you should go ask them.

**Apex85: **Thank you, I'm glad you gave it a chance. Though you are correct, I should've executed it better.

**VoidHart:** Nice catch, those were indeed some shout outs I put in.

**CharMaster (Guest): **Good to have you on board!

**dracohalo117:** Thank you.

**SensualRequiem:** I don't believe I've put one in yet, where did you see it?

**Guest (Guest):** It's harem-esque, but there will be a final girl for Jaune to end up with eventually.

**I'd like to shout out the references people managed to catch. Go check them out if you're interested!  
-Pokemon Nurse Jay (Joy)  
****-Juan Arc from zelkova48's Hypnotherapy  
-Pi (Pie)= 3.14  
-Spectrum by Super Saiyan Cyndaquil  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any franchises I may reference or allude to within any of my chapters, they all belong to their respective owners. 'The ABC Murders' is a work of fiction by Agatha Christie, as such I do not own the idea. It is a great detective book, so have a read of it if you are interested.**

* * *

Chapter 22- A Book, A Breadstick and A Fake Cat

It was a surprisingly average day, fairly cloudless. Vale was still making its preparations for the Vytal festival that would be happening within the coming months. From Dust Till Dawn. A small business that had just finally recovered from a dust robbery several months back, opening once more for the large crowds and demand for dust that would come with the beginning of the festival. From the size of the tourists this festival would _definitely _be one to remember, not that she knew for sure of course.

A loud impact got the attention of a handful of people but they disregarded it quickly. The shopkeeper of the newly reopened establishment was putting up the finishing touches when a tourist had accidentally knocked into him, nothing exciting. "I'm sorry sir, I'm new around here." Apologised the woman as she helped him up with a kind smile. The old man waved it off, he'd had worse happened to him. At this point he was just glad she hadn't robbed him. The green haired woman looked up at the sign he had pinned up, her smile still present on her face. "A strange time to be reopening isn't it? I heard there's a serial thief about." The shopkeep laughed, waving it off once more.

The tourist kept the smile up. "Um, if you don't mind, could you point me in the direction of this shop?" She asked. After receiving the 'help' she needed the woman walked off, waving goodbye to the older man with a smile. He waved back, _what a nice girl._

After rounding a corner her smile immediately turned upon seeing her partner in crime. "If you would've just admitted we were lost I would've asked for directions for you." He taunted. She glared at him, seemingly loathing his very existence.

"Mercury I swear, I will pay you to shut up." Growled the woman, pulling out a leather wallet from... somewhere. "I wasn't lost. I was just... making sure no one is suspicious of us." It wasn't her fault that all of Vale's streets looked the same. Who's bright idea was it to not have some sort of indication of the street name?

'Mercury' scoffed, "Sure. And that wallet is yours." The red eyes woman frowned and continued walking.

"Hey, the wallet just found its own way into my pocket. It's not my fault that someone doesn't keep proper track of their belongings." She took out the lien within and tossed the wallet aside. For all that shop keep knew, they had accidentally dropped it over there on the way to work. "Let's just get this 'serial theft' over and done with." Grumbled the woman.

Mercury grinned, "You're just annoyed that I killed that Faunus guy even after 'your precious boss' told us not to harm any of the White Fang." She stopped in place and glared daggers at him but he just leaned against the wall unfazed. "He looked at me funny. It's not my fault that Cinder's holding out on you because of it." The green haired girl's eyes narrowed even further.

"You're dead to me." She spat before turning around to walk off. Mercury grinned as he got up off the wall and dusted his pants.

"She didn't deny it."

* * *

Despite the rapid coming of the Vytal Festival and the swaths of people that it brings, Tukson's book shop was still as empty as it always was even after having pretty much every book. Maybe he needed to remodel sometime? Tukson's book trade, home to every book under the sun. He sighed, hopefully someone didn't take the catchphrase seriously. It was practically impossible to have every book under the sun, especially since a lot of classics were lost in a delivery from Mountain Glenn. The poor sap didn't make the return trip with the books. He perked up when the door bells jingled.

"Hello, welcome to Tukson's book trade. Home to every book under the sun. How may I help you?" He greeted mechanically, putting on his business smile. Business tended to be slow what with most students having access to a library and the citizens of Vale not having time to sit and read with the Festival coming, so he was just happy to get any business at all. The older man looked over the counter towards the two seemingly young customers. _Must be students looking for texts for the new semester_. He thought to himself. The man's thoughts wandered to the pair of teens that visited his shop a while back. _I wonder how Blake is holding up_. Upon closer inspection of the olive skinned girl his smile faltered briefly.

The girl smiled back at him, "Hello." She greeted. "I was just wondering. Do you have any copies of 'The Thief and The Butcher?'" Tukson nodded with a smile mirroring her own.

"Yes we do." He confirmed, motioning to grab a book to his left. "Would you like a copy?" He was stopped in his tracks when the girl shook her head negative.

"No thanks. I was just wondering." The smile on her face didn't fade as the grey haired boy behind her closed a book with excessive force. The girl took a step back, "How about 'Violet's Garden'. In paperback?" The boy behind her shut another book with the same amount of force, catching their attention for a second time.

"He's got it." He answered. "In hardback too." The emerald haired girl's smiled eerily, tapping her chin in thought. Tukson narrowed his eyes at the two, his suspicions growing slowly. "There aren't any pictures." Complained the boy at the front.

The girl glared at him, apparently he'd annoyed her at some point. "Mercury, if you want pictures then go look at the comic section." She chided, her smile dropping for a brief moment. Tukson pointed the boy to the front of the shop, suggesting that the comic books were there. The girl held up a hand, "What about... 'Third Crusade'?" She asked slowly, a smirk on her face. Tukson's frowned,

"I... Don't believe we carry that one." He stated hesitantly. The boy, Mercury, closed another hard copy book unnecessarily hard. The bookshop owner gave him a look, if he wrecked one of his books he'd better be ready to pay for it. The green haired girl's smirk widened as she began to lean on the counter,

"What was the name of this little establishment again?" She queried curiously, her tone suggesting she already knew the answer. Tukson sighed after realising where they were going with this,

"Tukson's book trade." He answered.

The young woman tilted her head innocently, "And I take it you're Tukson?" He nodded affirmatively. "So you're the one who came up with the catchphrase?" He nodded once more. Technically a certain someone had helped him come up with the slogan when he first began this business. He could still remember their childlike innocence, 'Mr Tukson, there are so many books here!' They exclaimed, 'It's like, every book under the sun comes to hang out here!'

"Sorry, I'm a little forgetful. What was that little slogan again?" Asked Mercury as he took a step back from the book stand. "'Home to every book under the sun'?" He scoffed, crossing his arms. "Apparently every book except 'Third Crusade'-"

"Wait!" Cried a voice from behind the shop owner. The sound of the back door opening cut the conversation. The three turned around in surprise to see a young man wearing a student's uniform stumbling out of the back room.

Tukson raised a brow, "I... forgot you were back there Jaune." He couldn't remember when the boy had entered the shop, let alone when he got into the storage. "What are you doing?" The boy panted, he obviously had been in a hurry for some reason.

"We, just got-" he took a deep breath, "a shipment of Jane Caur's latest novel ahead of time." He stated between breaths. "I'm honestly surprised though Miss. How did you know it would be a Faunus based novel called 'Third Crusade'?" The girl narrowed her eyes at the boy. This 'Jaune' clearly knew that wasn't the book she had been talking about. "Unfortunately, it doesn't come with the pictures your friend seems to enjoy so much." He turned to Mercury, "I can recommend some comic books or manga if you'd like. X-ray and Vav is particularly good." He suggested in hopes of disarming a confrontation. The blond knight walked forwards to the pile of books he had hidden Crocea Mors under whilst the metal themed man pondered the decision. Blue met steely grey. The two analysed each other for some form of tell until the seemingly older boy sighed, the smile that had previously been on Emerald's face migrated to his as hers formed into a frown.

"I can do without it." He waved it off as he turned around, surprising his partner. "I'll see you around... Cinder's Toy Knight." Jaune narrowed his eyes at the boy's words, those two possibly worked for _her_. The metal-haired boy waved at him in a cocky manner before exiting the building while his partner just stood in place adorning a confused look,

"_He_ is the one?" She turned back to the boy to see him take out a sword hidden under a pile of books. Before she could try to disarm him however, he sheathed it and exhaled in relief. Emerald moved to leave, apparently their little 'theft' had failed. Fortunately Cinder wouldn't learn of their little failure, and at least they got the first one before he left. She was halfway through the door when her arm was caught.

"You left this at your last crime scene." The girl's eyes widened upon being handed a green dust crystal. She scowled at him dangerously, motioning to her weapons in case he started a fight despite having already sheathed his. The knight shook his head. "You seem to enjoy reading miss. I just wanted to talk to you about a book I thought you'd be familiar with." He gave her a grin, "The A.B.C. Murders." Emerald gave him a wary look as she slowly circled him. Her guard fell slightly when she saw that he let her move behind him without a single care.

"It's a detective story with a fairly simple way for the criminal to get what they wanted. I'll give you a bit of an abridged version, considering you seem to be in a hurry." The exotic woman frowned, "so say I go on a bit of a murder spree and at each place I kill someone and leave a calling card, making people believe it was just a serial killing. In the end I kill persons A, B and C, and if I'm skilful enough, get off scot free with killing the person whom I wanted to murder all along, that being person C." Emerald frowned, that sounded a lot like-

"If you're thinking that it sounded a lot like the recent string of 'serial robberies' then you would be absolutely correct. Think about it. The culprit robbed from places in a circle that spelled out 'REMNANT' when you took out the first letters of the establishments." Cinders lackey took a step back, "At each place they left that calling card to make it appear as if it was a serial robbery." He gave her a smirk, "When in reality, this was all so they could kill certain people at the letters N and T."

The young woman scoffed, "Why did you think it would be at Tukson's of all places?" She asked curiously, a bead of sweat trickled down her spine. "Surely there were plenty of other places that fit the bill?" Jaune laughed monotonously, letting his hair shadow his eyes.

"How could I not? This was the one place I was hoping wouldn't be affected." He stated simply. It was always easiest to connect the dots to something you don't want.

Emerald laughed, "And what sort of bull is that Mr Detective?"

Jaune smiled as he mad his way to the exit, "When you have eliminated the impossible whatever's left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." He quoted cooly while casually exiting the building. "Oh, and nice try." He quipped as he held out his wallet. The green haired girl's eyes widened considerably once more, since when did he-? She could've sworn she swiped that from his pockets using her semblance. How had he seen through it?

Tukson watched the entire exchange between the two in confusion. "So... are you two an item? And are you going to buy the new book, 'cause I'm going to have to close up soon." Emerald shot him a look, "Hey, we're getting it earlier than most. You might as well buy it before it goes."

"Quiet you." She growled before stomping outside after her partner. Tukson sighed in relief as the girl ran off. Jaune had helped him out once again. He smiled, sorting out the books the boy had used to hide his weapon. The blond had grown since the day they first met, the day where Tukson became 100% convinced that his decision to leave the White Fang was for the better. The man stared out the window. If only Roman would let him tell the boy the truth before he left. He stared at the latest book by 'Jane Caur' with an interested look, Jaune _did_ know that it was possible the book would be a cause of controversy right?

* * *

Jaune sneezed outside of Neo's little building. He gazed at it curiously, _I could've sworn I heard someone in there sneeze along with me. _He shook his head. _I'm probably just hearing things._ Upon opening the door he was treated with silence. The only noise seemed to come from his footsteps and the sound of his breath. "Anyone home?" He called, his voice carrying through the halls. His call was met with silence. "Roman? Neo?" The young knight opened the door to his publisher's room but found no one residing behind it. He frowned, where were they? Roman had told him they would be here when he got back. As he approached Roman's room he heard shuffling from behind the door. "Roman?" He hesitantly began to push it backwards,

Now, if you asked Jaune what happened in the moments following him opening the door, he would tell you he didn't fall over and scream like a little girl, nor did he wet himself. If you asked Neo however, she would 'tell' you it was the funniest moment of her life.

As the young author pushed open the door the woman jumped out at him with a grin. Luckily she hadn't said anything as she jumped out or Jaune would've fainted on the spot. "Neo, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" He chided the colourful girl sitting on his stomach and bopped her gently on the head. She just smiled at him, her mouth twisted into the same confident grin she usually wore. The ice cream lover knew he couldn't do anything.

From behind the woman Roman cackled endlessly. "She got you good Yellow." He teased. "Don't worry, this video will be more than enough payment for your gun." He reassured, gesturing to the video camera in his dominant hand. Jaune glared at the two, especially the girl trying to play off an innocent expression. The orange haired man smirked, "Now that isn't the way you treat the person that got you _this_, is it?"

The student's eyes widened upon gazing upon the weapon in the editor's hand. It was exactly how he had pictured it would be. A white and yellow colour scheme reminiscent of Crocea Mors slapped onto a plain gun that used similar rounds to the ones he'd seen Blake and Ren use. There was something special about Ren's dust rounds but he paid no mind to it. The secrets of the silent boy's weapons was his to keep until he wanted to share. Jaune was perfectly fine with waiting.

His eyes shimmered in awe at the handgun. "Now while the gun is paid for, I'll need another payment for this." Jaune's eyes turned away from the ranged weapon of his dreams to the holster he had asked Roman to get. Like his shield, the two crescent arcs that made up his emblem was present. The man tapped a finger on his leg for a few moments, "I'm thinking maybe a couple thousand lien. How about you Yellow?" Jaune rolled his eyes,

"How about I try and get another novel done in two weeks?" Roman raised a brow, not a novella but a full blown novel? Even with his semblance the research that normally went into each novel took him more than a month, less than that was unheard of for him. It took patience and careful plotting to craft a book, giving anything less than your all would make for a bad story. The knight smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, this book will be more than enough payment for the holster." He jabbed, reusing Roman's own words.

"I'm holding you to that." Laughed the criminal. "Now, onto the features of the gun you wanted." He held up the ranged weapon, the metal reflecting light beautifully around the room. "This gun should be useful in both ranged fights and when you want to get up close." He pointed to the barrel, "The bullets pack a punch so please do not test it on your hand. Aura or not, it will hurt." He tapped the holster. "Now like you asked, this should be able to sit on Crocea Mors, while still giving it the function to collapse into a sheath." He gestured at the other side of the barrel, "Lastly, even though you didn't ask for it, I added a cup holder to here. So if you just press this button-" A small compartment burst open as a cup holder extended out, a simple white metal ring just large enough to keep a cup wedged there. Jaune blinked, why would he need a cup holder? Roman smirked, "Nowadays everything has a cup holder." Taking out Melodic Cudgel, surely enough there was a cup holder that appeared after a simple press of a button. Even Neo's umbrella had one.

The blond rolled his eyes, "Surely not everything has a cup holder." He stated disbelievingly. The fancy crook gestured towards the armrest of the seat he was on, showcasing the cup holder. He then pointed at a myriad of things in the room that sure enough had something to hold a cup. The desk, the lamp, the bed, the door- heck, one of the cup holders had its own cup holder. Upon risking a look outside he saw that tables, walls, even _cars_ had cup holders.

Roman smirked at his look of utter disbelief, "Jaune. _Everything_, has a cup holder." He repeated. The knight sighed in reluctant acceptance. The things people come up with as 'advancements' in technology. Next thing you'll know there'll be a circle you put on your head to help you sleep. Roman's eyes widened upon taking a glance at his non-existent watch, "Oh would you look at the time, you'd better be getting home Yellow. Don't want to be late for your bedtime after all." Excused the man as he started to 'subtly' shove the blond out the building. Not so gently pushing the knight out the door the man gave him a smile, "Now we won't be here for a while, some things to do, people to see. If you need anything just uh, message Neo? She'll get back to you... eventually."

Jaune winced as the Orange haired criminal slammed the door shut. Either he had said something, or Roman was acting off. After all, it was still morning. He shrugged, Neo probably had him at umbrella point again. He stared at his new gun, it was unnecessarily shiny and he loved it. Holstering the handgun he attached it to his hip for now. He'd have to get help from the school blacksmith so he could attach the holster to Crocea Mors. With a skip in his step, the knight made his way back to Beacon. _I can't wait to try it out._

* * *

Eyes. Black, red, pink, purple, blue, green… silver. They come in all assortments of colours. Some say that the eyes are the gateway to one's soul. If that were true, because aura and semblance is the manifestation of ones soul, it would mean that they were directly connected. If one were to ask, 'why is Jaune Arc of all people getting philosophical about eyes?' the answer would be simple.

A pair of sharp green eyes were boring through his eyes, right into his soul. He could practically feel his aura draining from the intensity of the glare. "Mr Arc, could you explain to me- _slowly_ and with _less curses_ this time- why Mr Wukong hit you over the head with cheddar biscuits?"

Neptune nodded in agreement. It was starting to become a bit hard to hold his blond leader back any longer. What argument could've possibly sprung on the way to sparring class? Jaune gave Sun a look, "Because he thinks cheddar biscuits are better than breadsti-" The knight was prevented from finishing his statement as his face found itself lodged into the ground, sporting a red glow in the shape of a fist. Jaune looked up to see it was now _both_ Neptune and Sun being held back by Glynda and her witchery.

"Students! I will not tolerate such rough behaviour. You are adults, and must act so!" Scolded the deputy as she pushed up her glasses. Reluctantly, the two members of Team SSSN and cheddar biscuit fanatics stopped struggling. "Good. Now get to class." Snapped the woman, cracking her crop and dropping the two. "Thanks to your antics, we are late."

Once again, teams would be split. Leaders would fight each other and team mates would be paired up with others for practice matches. The spars however, were much more entertaining than usual. It was by choice of the 'random' selection of fighters that lead to some curious match ups. The 'randomness' of the system was questionable however considering it was Ozpin who implemented it, but unfortunately for the blond deputy none of the students knew that tidbit of information. She sighed tiredly and triggered the 'randomization' process on the screen. "The next match between leaders will be-" Goodwitch stopped mid-sentence and pulled out her scroll, typing the headmaster's name angrily. She glared at the screen, "Ozpin, what happened to random?" She frowned. "I am absolutely certain this is not some strange trick of fate." She stated, pointing towards the display.

Ozpin smirked, pretending he hadn't seen the fight between the two blonds on the multiple security cameras he had placed around the school. He took a sip of his coffee nonchalantly, "I have no idea what you're talking about Glynda." He waved his mug lazily, "Now if you excuse me, I have to make some… priorities, concerning our budget. Have fun~" If one looked closely at the blond teacher's scroll, you could _almost_ see it shatter into thousands of pieces.

"Ozpin, one day. You will have your comeuppance." She muttered eerily under her breath. "Now. Will leaders Jaune Arc and Sun Wukong, come onto the stage for a _practice_ spar where deliberate injury _will_ be punished." She sighed. Clarifying the consequences would just lead to wasted time with these two.

Sun grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "You ready to settle this once and for all?" Jaune nodded as he brought out Crocea Mors and took a stance. His smirk mirroring Sun's as the other boy too got into a stance.

"I was born ready." He shot back, "Those cheddar biscuits are nothing against the breadsticks." Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose. How these two were chosen for team leader, she didn't know. All she knew was that Ozpin was more than likely to blame as per usual. It was _always_ Ozpin's fault. Even if not directly.

The two stood still as they waited for the timer to tick down. As the clock winded down Jaune couldn't help but be reminded of the tapping that had accompanied his awakening after being burned alive. _"Miss Belladonna seemed to be fretting over you quite a bit. Seeing the normally flat young woman actually worry over something was surprising."_ The rhythmic tapping had actually been her pacing about the room. But that didn't necessarily mean she was worried, she could've just been impatient or bored. The suddenness of his accident probably didn't leave them much time to get changed let alone bring a book. Jaune frowned at the thought, _Wait. My clothes should have gotten wet after falling into the hot spring, or at least charred by the fire. So why was I dry in the bed? Did someone-_

He then remembered something mildly important. He was in the middle of a spar. The crowd of leaders winced as he received the end of a bo staff to the head. And chest. And legs. And pretty much every other part of his body. The knight grimaced in pain as he rolled away from the other boy. Aura may protect them from wounds, but you can still feel pain. Just, dulled down pain. He held up his shield, ready for the blond Faunus' barrage. Sun smirked as he disconnected Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang into their gunchuck forms, spinning them around his body in preparation.

"Cheddar biscuits are better than your breadsticks will ever be." He stated with a cocky grin. Jaune glared at him and went for a horizontal cut, followed up by a shield bash. Sun back flipped out of range of the two attacks and shot one round to whittle the blond's aura. The knight hid behind his shield, stopping the Faunus from getting a head shot but also obscuring his vision in the process. "Cheddar biscuits are both light and flaky!" The Faunus used Jaune's shield to vault behind him, letting loose a few rounds to his back as he flipped.

The young author growled and spun around, swinging horizontally again as he turned. "So you _want_ a treat that crumbles all around you and is difficult to eat?" He retaliated, nailing Sun in the stomach. Sun knocked back the sword and flipped his gunchucks, scoring a few more rounds into Jaune's chest.

"No, cheddar biscuits just dissolve in your mouth. Breadsticks, that stuff tears your neck- it's like bread beef jerky!" Sun swiftly kicked the knight's sword hand and stomach, sending him sprawling backwards. Jaune winced at the impact, but managed to recover quickly. Bringing Crocea around once more for another swing, he internally cheered as it managed to hit home and stagger his fellow blond backwards. Sun shifted his gunchucks back into its staff form and twirled it behind his back for a second. "They're better than breadsticks." He swung his weapon in a wide arc, managing to barely catch Jaune's right hand and knock his sword off to the side. _I need a hand strap or something for the amount of times I drop that thing_. "I'd go to a place _just_ for the cheddar biscuits-" Jaune blocked a thrust with his shield. He felt the ground under him shift from the force of the attack. "And since I'd go there, _you'd_ go too because they're amazing!" He began to sweat as Sun started to rapidly beat at his shield, he could feel himself slowly get pushed backwards by the force behind the blows. _You'd better not break on me now_, he pleaded to the heirloom. "You'd never go just for the breadsticks. You will be over with me, shoving that cheddar down your hole and you know it!" Sun took a few steps back, panting heavily, his voice going hoarse, Jaune laughed nervously from behind Crocea Mors.

"So… you done?" The Faunus took a few deep breaths before nodding calmly. "Alright, now let's actually spar lest Goodwitch slaughters us both." He got into stance once more, but reached his free hand behind his shield. Sun stood perplexed at the new stance,

"Aren't you going to go get your sword?" Jaune shook his head, a smirk forming on his face. The leader of Team SSSN shrugged, "Your funeral." He took a step forwards, testing the blond's reflexes with a fake out. Unfortunately, he had a pretty quick trigger finger… and a gun too. Sun's eyes widened, not expecting to suddenly be assaulted by dust rounds. He ducked and rolled to the side and separated Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang before retaliating with his own rounds. "You have a gun?" He stared at the handgun bearing Jaune's emblem incredulously. Suddenly a ranged fight against the blond seemed less favourable. Not only was Jaune adept at shooting- a painful lesson he had learnt as a child when he challenged him to a shooting gallery game- but he also had a shield. Attaching his weapons together once again, the blond moved for a more direct approach. Jaune rolled to his right and began unloading his clip from behind the shield at his opponent. Sun swore mentally and back-pedalled away from the bullets. He would have to wait until the writer ran out of bullets before he could go in. Taking a quick glance at their aura levels he was relieved to see he was in the middle with Jaune's being slightly lower. _Screw you and your large stores of aura_. He grumbled mentally.

The two blonds stared each other down, neither one willing to initiate the combat. Jaune glanced briefly at his handgun, realising a fairly big flaw he hadn't thought of yet. How is he going to reload? He sighed, turning back to Sun. "And this is why we test things before we try them." He mumbled sarcastically under his breath. Sun took another step to get the knight to waste bullets but was surprised to see the boy hesitate to fire. With a grin he broke out into a run. Stunned for a second by the sudden sprint, Sun was easily able to close the distance before Jaune could fire. He tried to use the end of his staff to jab at the knight, but Jaune managed to recover enough to get the staff to graze by his shield. With a shout he shield bashed the grounded weapon in an attempt to disarm his opponent. Sun's eyes widened upon catching his intent. Thinking quickly, the blond Faunus disconnected his weapon just in time for the other half to get bashed to the other side of the arena. He clicked his tongue in annoyance before smacking Jaune in the head with the remainder of his weapon. The knight tumbled to the side, dropping his shield as he recoiled backwards. Not giving him any quarter, Sun landed a few more direct hits and fired a round at him. He winced upon receiving it head on, tumbling backwards once more. The Faunus grinned and moved in to finish the blond, but upon swinging Jingu Bang at him he was intercepted by a sword.

Jaune gave him a smirk and lifted his handgun, thankfully he had managed to manipulate his falls in the direction of his sword. After a brief moment the monkey Faunus returned the smirk and pivoted on the spot, wincing briefly after receiving a few rounds to the side. In one fluid motion Sun spun and used the momentum to nail the blond knight in the head once more, sending him to the floor. Jaune grimaced upon hitting the floor as the sound of a buzzer rang through the arena. "Winner Sun Wukong as his opponent's aura has depleted." Called Goodwitch from the sidelines. She looked at the writer with a pointed expression, "Mr Arc, since this is the second time I hope you will learn from this. Watch your aura levels and try to lower the amount of bullets you get hit by. As for you Mr Wukong, not only did you start wailing at your friend's shield- wasting a considerable amount of ammo and aura- you were too overconfident, which led to you being taken by surprise by Mr Arc's new weapon." She turned back to Jaune upon mentioning his handgun, "-Which brings up my next point Mr Arc. I take it you didn't think about needing the ability to reload when you got this? I _did_ notice, after all, your distress after nearly wasting your clip." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he and Sun exited the arena. She did have a point. He spared a look at his new gun. Maybe he would need to put a little more thought into how he used it too.

* * *

Pyrrha sighed as she watched Jaune tinker with his new gun. Although she said tinker, really he was just staring at it and mumbling to himself. Occasionally he would go starry eyed as if finding an answer to an age old question, only for him to suddenly drop back into that same disappointed slump. She wanted so badly to help him, maybe put his chirpy grin back on his face, but he had said it would just be a waste of her time. Although she knew he didn't mean anything by it, it still hurt to hear it. And now she was instead wasting her time watching the blond stare at his new gun whilst waiting for Ren to finish with their pancakes. Only he, Jaune and surprisingly Yang knew how to cook in their group- at least properly. Weiss was… trying and Blake couldn't cook anything without fish in it. Ruby knew how to bake cookies? She herself only knew the basics and no one was brave- or daft- enough to try Nora's cooking, so it was a mystery whether or not she could actually cook.

The reasons why only the green ninja of their group was cooking was because Jaune was busy figuring out his weapon and after the April Fool's dinner Yang had cooked up, no one trusted her to make food. Or fly a plane. Neither did they trust green bookshelves with purple spots. The red haired spartan shivered as the memories tickled at the back of her brain. They never spoke about _that _anymore.  
The main reason for why teams RWBY and JNPR were currently residing in the extension of the RWBY dorm room having pancakes- among other _more suitable_ dishes- for dinner, was their successful training at Pharos. Unfortunately something came up for Neptune and Sun was missing so they couldn't come, and Team CFVY headed out on a mission soon after Velvet and Coco returned from Pharos with them. Pyrrha turned to look at what the others were doing, Team RWBY seemed to have really taken to a new game Ruby had bought, and Nora was being Nora. She turned back to her partner, if only he would reach out and ask for help more often. Even if it wasn't from her, Ruby _was_ a weapon geek after all. It honestly surprised her that she wasn't all over Jaune's new handgun by no-

"So what's it made of?" Asked the red and black haired girl curiously, surprising both her and her partner. Jaune hesitated in answering, he wasn't exactly sure either. "What calibre are your rounds- oh, how far can you shoot it? How were you planning to reload when you ran out of ammo, 'cause in your fight with Sun you used it with your shield-" Ruby's eyes widened, "Wait, can you do those one handed reloads? I see hunters do it all the time!" Pyrrha giggled at the younger girl's sudden interest. Knowing the young leader of RWBY, she more than likely had only just remembered about it. Jaune raised a brow,

"One handed reload? Can you… tell me more about it?" Ruby nodded vehemently, going into the details and physics under the 'fabled one handed reload'. To be honest, it wasn't anything new. In their line of work, one has to come up with more efficient ways to use their weapons. In fact, Sun uses the momentum of his swings to re-chamber his gunchucks and Yang can reload her shotgun gauntlets by throwing the ammo belts in the air and swinging her arms so that Ember Celica catches it. Even if it wasn't a new concept, seeing the two talk so animatedly about it was rather soothing. Pyrrha frowned, although she may say that, she couldn't help but feel a little-

Jaune groaned as his scroll rang, gathering the attention of the room with his rather… upbeat? ringtone. "Who is it?" Asked Ren curiously as he flipped pancakes whilst wearing the apron that was no doubt to used keep Nora at bay. The knight turned to answer his male teammate with a smile, making no motions to answer the call.

"It's no one important-" In a flash everyone but the silent cook crowded around the blond writer to see who had called him. The word 'Mom' flashed on the screen, possibly indicating that it _may_ be his mother on the other side of the call. Nora danced in the background to the ringtone whilst everyone gave him a look.

"No one important?" Frowned Yang as she stood behind him. Pyrrha nodded along with everyone else, how could he say that was no one? Jaune laughed nervously as everyone began to gesture towards the answer call button on the scroll. _I wonder what his mother is like._ She mused. The group gravitated behind the boy so they could see the screen properly.

As Jaune hesitantly answered the video call, the group was treated to the sight of his mother, whom he hadn't seen nor called since he had left for Beacon. He smiled awkwardly, she hadn't changed one bit in the time he had spent away from her. She was still short for her age, not that he'd ever disclose her _actual_ age. He didn't have a death wish after all.  
She only came up to his shoulders in height and he was still just seventeen. Honestly, in terms of assumed age to actual age ratio only Neo seemed to match, but once again he wouldn't tell anyone Neo's real age. At least, he wouldn't if he knew what it was. According to his mom, he inherited her 'adorable' looks. From the soft blond hair to the bright blue eyes. And according to his dad he also inherited her clumsiness and love for literature, but the former was something the older Arc would never admit to his wife's face.  
The woman's hair reached down to her lower back and she adorned a childish grin on her face that was extremely reminiscent of their blond friend. What _really_ threw everyone for a loop, however, was that she looked like she could've been Jaune's younger sister. That and the fact she was wearing a cat costume. "Good af-meow-rnoon Jau-nya~" She greeted as she moved her 'paws' in a catlike gesture and waved at the group. Before any more could be said Jaune's scroll flew out the window. The room stood silent as they attempted to comprehend what had just transpired whilst Jaune sat back down from his thrower's stance. A couple of the occupants of the extension were interested about how Blake would react seeing that she was a cat Faunus, but the girl had an unsurprisingly good poker face.

Breaking the silence, Ruby spoke. "Jau... nya?" Not even a second after she finished the entire room, bar Jaune, began to laugh their heads off. Ren even took his attention off of the currently burning pancakes as he nearly fell to the floor in uncharacteristic laughter.

"That's your mother?" Snickered Yang, thanking dust for what had just happened. Even Blake and Weiss were laughing hysterically, which really meant something. Pyrrha gave him a light smile, although she wasn't expecting _that_ it was still nice to see her partner's mother.

Jaune laughed it off, "What? No, I've never seen that woman in my life. It was a wrong number." He gave a false smile, trying to play it off. Turns out it was really hard to lie when the truth had already waved at their faces whilst wearing a cat costume. Before anyone could comment on his acting Sun came in through the window, holding a familiar scroll in his hand.

"Hey Jaune, I was on my way here when your scroll hit me in the face. You might want to keep a better eye on it." He stated helpfully. "Also, your mom hasn't changed at all since I last saw her... seriously though, she still looks _exactly the same_." Jaune stared at the scroll in the blond boy's hand before giving him the same annoyed look he wore when Nora stole the last pancake... from his fork. The room watched as the monkey Faunus handed the scroll to its owner, oblivious to the withering stare.

"Jau-nya! I can't believe mew threw me-owt the window!" Cried the ticked off mother from the scroll, still speaking stereotypical cat-speak... kind of. "I haven't heard from mew in months and this is how mew treat meow?" The knight sighed, feeling a little guilty. Still, a _cat costume_? "Besides, I have some important mews for mew." Jaune's brow twitched, the constant 'cat-talk' was starting to get on his nerves.

"Well then mom, what's the news?" He asked, trying to ignore the snickers from behind him.

The onlookers watched in interest as the air around the young looking woman shifted as she dropped her happy-go-lucky tone. "Well, your some of your sisters and I are coming to visit for that Family Open Day at Beacon and I decided to remind you." Jaune gulped audibly, _well it looks like things are going to get a bit out of hand soon... and fast. Also, Beacon has a Family Open Day?_ The blond woman smiled knowingly at her son, her gaze turning to the students behind him as a dark aura began to emanate from her. "I can see your many… _friends_ behind you, so I can't wait to hear _all_ about _anything_ they may have done to my little sweetheart." Jaune blinked in confusion as he felt the female presences behind him suddenly shrink into the furthest corners of the room. Upon seeing them retreat, his mom gave him a serious look, "I see you still need to learn how to properly trust in your friends." He winced at her piercing look. So she was still going to hound him about that?

"That's all for ne-ow, see nya later!" Spoke the woman as she waved farewell, picking up the cat-speak once more before hanging up. Blake sighed after the overwhelming woman hung up, feeling the air in the room lighten slightly. She looked around the room curiously, wondering how everyone else had responded to Jaune's mom. Ren had cleared his eyes of tears and resumed cooking, Jaune had gone off to the side to strangle Sun and all the other girls save Nora were cowering in the corner. Nora had picked up her brave leader's scroll and begun playing the full version of his ringtone so she could dance to it once more. More or less what she expected.

The black haired Faunus shook her head with a sigh, "I'm going to the library." She could always go to the cafeteria for food.

* * *

Emerald grumbled angrily as she made her way into the warehouse. Mercury's smug grin followed her. "Looks like I win our bet." He chuckled, enjoying watching her irate stomping. "Not that it was too hard to stop your 'perfect' crime spree." The green haired woman glared at him, her arms crossed. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously.

"Not in the mood Mercury." She snapped as they approached Cinder's orange haired 'partner'. The metal themed man gave her a cocky smirk,

"Hey, you don't need to be so hostile just because you were outsmarted by Cinder's Toy Knight." He 'consoled', elbowing her in a not-too-gentle manner. Roman groaned before putting on a fake smile after noticing the twos presence behind him.

"Well if it isn't my favourite two underlings." He laughed sarcastically, rubbing their heads affectionately. He walked back to where he had been standing in an exaggerated manner. "I'm _so_ glad she brought the kids again. Because _these_ will help me decipher just where on Remnant, you two have been!" Emerald's eyes widened upon noticing that Roman had taken the address off of her and the book she had stolen from Tukson. The criminal narrowed his eyes, "Why do you have these?" He asked, his voice taking an edge to it.

Emerald scoffed, "Wouldn't you like to know." She spat, turning away from the man.

Mercury crossed his arms confidently and turned to the criminal with his trademark cocky grin, "Em and I have been all over town doing some convoluted scheme to take out a hit you were supposed to have done for Cinder already." Roman's eyes widened for the briefest of moments. He growled and turned towards the map behind him, _so these brats were the ones that did those serial thefts_. "Unfortunately before we could follow through with Tukson, Cinder's Toy came and ruined the fun." His smirk widened after seeing he had managed to get a reaction.

"Listen here you little punk. As long as that boy gets me money, I'm not letting you touch him." He snapped, "If you harm a hair on his head I will take you and your street rat friend here and-!"

"And what Roman?" Echoed a sultry voice from above. The orange haired man groaned internally. _Great, the big bad boss here_. "Now I do hope you weren't intending to hurt them. I need _all_ my pieces to begin this game after all." Roman smiled at the woman as her heels clacked along the ground. "Now what is this I hear about you missing a hit?"

He laughed nervously, "Well I was going to, but then I found out he was selling books. Now he's kind of a big part of our little publishing circle."

"Well, while tiny Mary Poppins and her butler were trying to make money, Emerald tried to do the hit for him." Stated Mercury.

Cinder's eyes narrowed at her lackey who had acted out of place, her irises burning brightly. "Emerald, I do not like it when my pieces act on their own and make my moves for me." The girl winced instinctively, "Do you know what we call a pawn that thinks and moves on its own?" The thief shook her head hesitantly, "Useless." She stated with finality. Roman and Mercury instinctively swallowed at her tone, Cinder was _very_ scary when angry. "And you'll find that being useless to me very... displeasing."

"Yes, I'm sorry. I won't do it again." Apologised the girl hurriedly.

Cinder smirked, playing with a small fire between her fingers. "Of course you won't. As punishment I want you to be at the boy's beck and call as well as garner the friendship of his friends. Worm your way into their hearts, and I don't care for what he or his team say, I want you to stay by their side at all times." She began to chuckle slowly at the thought.

Emerald wailed on the inside. There was no way Cinder was making her do this, it had to be a joke. Evil criminal masterminds made jokes too right? _Right?_ "And one more thing I forgot to mention." She leaned in and began to whisper into her lackey's ear. The girl's eyes widened at the bomb that had just been dropped on her. "Have fun with that~" she sang as she waved her off. Emerald shook her head, there was no way she was to- she couldn't be serious. It was safe to assume her day just got infinitely worse.

The black haired woman turned to Roman, enjoying seeing him stiffen slightly before playing it off as stretching. It was enjoyable watching the man try to keep up his persona, "Now I understand one of them was a part of your 'get rich' scheme, but the other was a simple dust salesman. Why was that one not done sooner? I do _not_ like to be kept waiting Roman." He shrugged, giving her a sarcastic look. His sarcasm however, was beginning to get on her nerves. Did he really believe he would be fine openly disregarding her position over him?

"Gee I wonder." He took a few steps back, emphasising his next point with an over exaggerated gesture to the containers behind him. "_Maybe_ all of these crates of dust that you wanted me to get flew in her magically while I sat on my ass on that recliner and waved my cane?" He replied sarcastically, "Wait- don't put that chair down there! That was sarcasm!" He sighed, good help was really hard to come by these days.

The man turned back to the unamused woman, ignoring the two Faunus' fumbling over a recliner. "Now, maybe if you told me what exactly all this dust I'm magically conjuring up is for, it might make sitting over there and waving my cane lazily a little easi- I swear to Dust, if you put the recliner back there I will grab this cane and shove it so far down your throat that pulling the trigger will give you _explosive_ diarrhea." The two lackeys snickered at the two White Fang members' scared expression. It was funny seeing someone be scared of _Roman_ of all people.

Cinder gave him a soft smile, "Oh Roman, Roman, Roman." She laughed lightly as her heels clicked loudly against the ground, echoing throughout the vast warehouse. "How many times do I have to say it? You will know what you need to know, when you need to know it." He winced as she brought her hand to his face. He would need to sanitise that and probably get some aloe vera later. It wouldn't hurt to apply some ice dust too. "Just know that we will be proceeding to phase two." He sighed in relief as she took her hand off of his cheek and began to saunter off, her hip swishing catching the eyes of many of the male White Fang members. Roman rolled his eyes at the poor men, _she _was no woman.

She was merely a devil in disguise, and he would not let her have her hands on his writer.

Neo would kill him otherwise.

* * *

**Cinder's ominous words echoes a dark future for our poor knight, her plans slowly coming to fruition under his nose. Will the knight be able to take the queen? Or will it be toyed with until it is ultimately sacrificed to save the king? Roman's allegiances fall under question, his disobedience to take out Tukson, his questioning of the Queen. When the time comes, he _will_ have to choose between his deadly employer and the blond boy he has come to know as 'almost' family.**

**So in this chapter we learn more about Jaune's mom (perhaps too much, sorry about the cat-speak) and Jaune realises a flaw or two within his choice of weapon. To be expected after all, as nothing is perfect from the get go. Sun and Jaune spar, showing Jaune's progress as a huntsman, and Jaune learns that Mercury and Emerald are possibly affiliated with Cinder. Fairly eventful. Take events as you may, even the smallest of details could come back in the future. See you guys and gals next chapter and please Follow and Favourite if you enjoyed, and leave a Review about what you liked/didn't like!**

**Those who get a specific reference get their own cat costume! (Correct size not guaranteed)**


	23. Chapter 23- Explosive Consequences

**Hey guys and gals, I'm back! Guess what? Jaune's Guilty Pleasure has been out for an entire **_**year **_**(And a bit)! When I started this I didn't think it would get this much attention and it's all thanks to you awesome readers. I couldn't have done it without you all, and I'm serious when I say, er, type that. Thank you all, you're the best.**

**Better nearly two months late than never I guess, but I do apologise for the absurdly late chapter. It was going to be out a while ago but some personal things happened with a good friend of mine and I had to delay for a few weeks.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**Reviews!**

**garoorar:** Now that you say that, I actually see that as well… interesting.

**Cloy552:** His mom is really, uh, something. Honestly, you haven't seen the half of it.

**Guest (Guest):** Thank you.

**thehidden6lade: **Thank you, I enjoyed writing it as much as I did watching it. Chibi this weekend, hype!

**Eogos:** Thank you!

**Benthino:** Thanks for the praise, hope you enjoy the chapter.

**Ace1stonewall:** It was a fairly vague shout to Beyond the Boundary, yes. Nice spot.

**Gabriel H. Sapphire:** Wait, run _now_? Uh, shoot, hold on. Alright, see you in- anywhere but here!

**RyoTheSaiyan:** One of the more… aggressive arguments in a while. Yes she, along with a few other characters from the internet, are one of the starting points that I used for her. As for the heel/face turn, you will have to read on to find out… and nice going being genre savvy.

**Noble graysin:** Yes it was partially off of Beyond the Boundary.

**Vexy Minion:** Thank you.

**RPGPersona:** Yeah! It isn't too hard though with a semblance that makes your brain work faster. He can hit range, he just needs to not run out of bullets until he figures out how to reload a gun without dropping his shield. Jaune may have won because he managed to get his opponent to waste aura by getting them mad, surprise him with a weapon he never had before, and his strangely large amount of aura. Yes the interrogation- I mean, introductions will be fun. I honestly feel bad for Emerald for the things she just might go through… Oh well, Jaune's had worse.

**CharMaster (Guest):** Interesting. I've never had either so I can't say anything.

**patleon909:** I was just as surprised at the amount of people that got attached to her, it affected quite a few more than I thought it would.

**Yagonator:** Sorry about that, I could've done it in a better way but what's done is done. I'm going to try and do better. About Pubert, that was one of my favourite references to implement.

**BuffaloFiction:** It was loosely based off of that moment, yes. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

**Guest (Guest):** Who knows, they might, they might not. It's up to them… and me.

**Dark Durian:** Interesting is a good way to put it. Jaune just might be able to bring Roman over, or he might not. We'll have to see if your hopes pull through.

**Lttaco:** I feel sorry for the teams once Jaune's family swings by. Heck, I feel sorry for Beacon in general. Especially Glynda.

**dracohalo117:** Thank you, hopefully the wait was worth it.

**Fan (Guest):** Sure.

**Ha RT reference (Guest):** Thank you.

**SensualRequiem:** It was an interesting spot, who knows, I may have unconsciously gotten it from there. Thank you, I will.

**goddy80119:** Yes it was.

**Jaster Mereel's heir: **Thank you, I enjoy writing it. Yes that was a quote from Sherlock Holmes, I'm glad someone spotted that. Yes that was also a reference. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Shinku Ryuuga:** Wow two and a half chapters? We'll have to see if your guess is right. Emerald will go through things, but Jaune's been through worse.

**Cabbage cabrera: **It is? I'll have to try them both sometime and see for myself.

**Mukukuku:** Unfortunately no, it was a quote from Sherlock Holmes. Though that may have quoted Sherlock Holmes as well.

**A Literal Goose:** Yes I am, a friend of a friend was nuts for it at one point and showed it to me. Thank you.

**SageZan (Guest):** It was partially taken from that, yes.

**Demetrion:** Shh, no one needs to know yet.

**freddy. lane.1: **Happy you enjoy it!

**Jazzatron: **Sorry about that part. And yes, that chapter will be fun.

**bigdogcop36:** Who knows. One of the many mysteries of Jaune Arc. I would've personally just let the scene play out and laugh.

**zachary2:** Thanks!

**Acerman: **To be honest that wasn't a reference, but it could've been an unconscious thing on my part. Interesting spot though.

**KennysDead (Guest):** Thank you. It's always nice to see that someone enjoys a reference.

**References some sharp people noticed in the last chapter:  
-The Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits vs Olive Garden Breadsticks argument between Miles, and Michael and Kerry.  
-Beyond the Boundary (Kyoukai no Kanata)  
-Oobidoobi's RWBY web comic 'Parental Guidance'.  
-Sherlock Holmes' quote about impossibility and improbability.**

**Go check out the awesome source material for my references, seriously they rock, or you can see if you spot them yourself. Up to you.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or anything I reference in this story, they all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 23- Explosive Consequences

If there was one regret Jaune had about deciding to go to Beacon it would be the homework. And assignments. And tests. Really just the non-fighting classes in general. Then again, it didn't help that he didn't pay attention in most classes. He _could_ blame it on Professor Port going on a tangent every class, or Doctor Oobleck speaking too fast for him to comprehend and keep up with without his semblance, or Professor Peach _never_ being there. The last case aside, his teachers were very competent as hunters and professors- that much he was sure of-, but concerning his own engagement in their classes, that was what was severely lacking. They would have his interest for a good third of the class, and then he would simply stop listening. Either way, the main reason for why he had a pile of books stacked before him had absolutely nothing to do with his failure to pay attention in class. He had to catch up on notes and homework because he had been sick for several days.

Literature, Grimm Studies, Dust Alchemy, Combat, History, the new Home Economics class they implemented purely because Weiss nearly burned down the dorms trying to learn how to make a bowl of cereal. He missed out on them, and thus had to make up for it with piles upon piles of work. He had been looking forward to the new class because he would finally have something he was actually good at. Literature was… a whole other can of worms that he never wanted to open again. Ever. At least, not after the argument Yang had with several students about the book they had been using as a reference. _His_ book. Needless to say, the poor students found themselves in the infirmary the following day.

At any rate, because of the classes he missed he was now trying to catch up in the library. Key word being 'trying'. Who knew that it would be so hard to pay attention to your work with someone sitting across the table from you silently reading, and another person watching you from across the room not-so-silently reading? Who would've guessed Amethyst was a loud reader? Eye brow furrowing in annoyance, the knight attempted to focus on something, anything, other than the laughter and loud exclamations from the opposite side of the library. From the way her bow twitched, he could tell that the other occupant of the table was having a similar problem. Chuckling under his breath, the young author turned his attention to the stack of workbooks and textbooks taunting him with their blank lines. Why did homework exist? If they wanted them to do _more_ work they could've just extended the class times. Picking up his trusty writing utensil, the blond student began his work.

Slowly getting into a rhythm he gave his book a cocky smirk. At this rate he could finish it without having to use his semblance. _And that is the Dust Alchemy done, all that's left is History._ He placed the textbook off to the side with a yawn, how long had he been at this? He looked over the table absentmindedly. Blake was still reading the same book but on closer inspection she had gone through approximately two hundred and thirty pages. Considering the black haired avid reader took about half a minute to go through each page, it had been just a little over an hour. Jaune smiled thoughtfully, this would be around the eighth time she's read that same book so her pace was understandable. Suddenly his smile shifted into a frown, shaking her memories away. It was rare for him to still be feeling the effects of mind reading so long after the initial use of his semblance.

The sound of tapping brought his attention back to the bookworm that started to tap the table in annoyance, patience thinning at the librarian's constant laughter. "Blake, do you pace when you're worried over something?" He found himself asking her without realising. The young woman across from him spared him a curious gaze over her book, not understanding the suddenness of the question, before giving her answer.

"If I did, I wouldn't recall it." She stated, taking a hand off of her book and waving it nonchalantly, "After all, if I was worried over something else, I wouldn't be paying much attention to what I was doing." Jaune nodded slowly, brow furrowed into a frown. The bookworm cocked her head to the side, "Why do you ask?" He shrugged, he really didn't quite know himself.

Briefly glancing over the Home Economics book he had been supplied with, the blond author spoke, "How was the new class?" He queried. The girl stiffened for a moment at the question, but didn't show any other outside emotion. She had forgotten that Jaune hadn't been there to experience it. _That lucky b-_

"It was… interesting to say the least." She answered with an underlying tone of venom. For their first ever class Goodwitch had decided to go for something most people had probably tried and was fairly simple, baking a cake. It seemed like a good idea at the time, after all who could mess up a cake in any way other than burning it? Apparently that issued a non-verbal challenge of some sorts to the members of Team RWBY. Weiss' creation couldn't even be called food, Ruby used the ingredients to bake cookies and Yang… well while it was delicious, it was also explosive. And ruined her perfectly good fish cake. After a horrible pun or two on Yang's part, and a handful of explosive cookie throwing, they were then kicked out by Goodwitch. What surprised her most to be honest, was the fact that Nora's cake didn't explode. "I think it would be best for you to fake being sick whenever we have it." _I know I will_.

Jaune blinked, what could possibly go wrong in a cooking class? As if contemplating the very nature of life, the blond's expression furrowed into a thoughtful frown once more as he began to think on the question and completely forget about the cat girl and mountain of school work before him. Seeing her book buddy currently engrossed in his own mind Blake turned her attention back to the book at hand, eagerly waiting for her favourite scene of the novel.

* * *

From the front desk of the library, Amethyst stealthily watched the interaction between the two, light purple eyes peering over the top of a black book. With her frustrated expression hidden by the book she tapped on her desk impatiently. They'd been silent for the longest time and when they had finally began to speak, it was a short conversation. Her gaze turned to the cards hidden behind her book. She'd never been wrong with these before, and dust if she would be wrong now.

"Hey guys, what's up?" She queried, suddenly leaning over the two. Jaune snapped out of his thoughts and waved at the older woman, quickly recovering from the heart attack she had induced by practically teleporting next to them. Blake gave her a respectful nod but refrained from taking her eyes off of the book. Clearly she had reached a good part. "Couldn't help but notice the mountain of books over there, are they yours Jaune?" The knight in question groaned,

"Don't remind me." He whined, face hiding behind his hands. She pitied the poor boy, schoolwork had never been fun unless you counted the times she was allowed to torment her team during combat class.

"So is Blake helping you with this?" He shook his head negatively. Amethyst tapped a finger to her chin. "Strange, I would've thought you would be under her tutelage. She does seem more… dependable, as a student." The blond agreed reluctantly, he couldn't really blame her for thinking that. His own appearance didn't really shout 'Good Student', and neither did his school record. The known to be smart people of their group after all were Ren, Blake, Weiss and Pyrrha. Luckily enough it _almost_ managed to balance out with the less scholarly of the group. Nora had Ren, Ruby had Weiss and he had Pyrrha. Yang was a whole other equation in itself, so Blake's placement as the party girl's leash was questionable.

"Now that I think about it, don't you two have fairly similar weapons? You both use a sword and a gun." Continued the librarian, the faintest of smirks visible on her face. "Do you ever train together?"

The black haired bookworm waved her hand, eyes still glued to the book before her. "Not particularly, but that is an interesting proposition." Jaune's eyes widened, sparkling slightly. This was his chance! He could get Blake to teach him about fighting with a handgun. Amethyst's smirk widened, seeing the look in the young author's eyes clear as day. He smiled and began to speak.

"Hey Bla-"

"Jaune!" Shouted an upset voice from the exit. "You're late." The leader's heart stopped, was it already that time? He began to sweat as he heard his red haired partner rush through the library towards him. If there was one thing Pyrrha hated most, it would be spiders. Second to that however, was not being on time. Whether it was being late for homework, late for an appointment or late for a _scheduled training session_, she disliked it. She could forgive anything but that one thing.

One of the things she enjoyed about Jaune was that he was always punctual unless it was out of his control i.e. Nora. However, seeing he was late for their _scheduled training session_ and not in mortal danger, the Spartan girl couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in her partner. Amethyst in the meantime was a little disappointed herself. None of the three Jane Caur enthusiasts could get a single word in as the young champion dragged the blond knight out of the library, leaving no room for argument. Amethyst's eyes shifted back to her desk, had she read them wrong? She assumed it had meant Blake, but what if it actually referred to Pyrrha? The librarian clicked her tongue in annoyance, and here she had high hopes too.

Blake watched the purple haired woman stand silent for a full ten minutes, not moving or saying anything with only the occasional sound of disappointment coming from her mouth. The cat Faunus shrugged, it probably had nothing to do with her. She turned back to her book, bow perking up happily at the next scene. _Yessss~_ She mewled mentally. _Their efforts have finally gotten noticed!_

* * *

Jaune ducked under a sword swing, eyes watching his opponent carefully. He analysed for any form of fault in their posture. None at all. He grimaced before leaping backwards, trying to create some space between them. Normally, that would have been a very, very bad idea. In this case, that fact still held true as he found himself face down several feet away. Shaking off the sudden feeling of nausea he got to his feet. Staring down his opponent Jaune kept his sword hand in front, his shield currently missing.

Sidestepping an attack he quickly moved into the offensive, throwing attack after attack at his opponent. They weaved through the attacks gracefully, only deigning his attacks the honor of being parried or blocked every ten or so swings. Saying he was frustrated was an understatement, but he wouldn't let that seep into his attacks. He tried to knock them off their balance by kicking their leg but they just leapt over the attempt and kicked him away, knocking Crocea Mors out of his hand. Falling into the ground with a grunt he held up his arms in defeat as a sword found its way to his throat.

He sighed, "That is 89 - 0 now right?" Pyrrha chuckled warmly, helping him off of the ground. The young champion didn't have the heart to tell him it was actually 93 - 0, but who was counting? She smiled at him,

"Don't get too disheartened, you were closer this time. Your swordplay without a shield has slowly gotten better. I'm sure the robot is shaking in its boots." He sighed once more, rubbing his sore everything. If that were true he should have won at least one of these little bouts. He glared at the training robot with the absurdly high win streak against him.

"One day I will beat you, and it will be glorious." He cried at the robot across the arena from him. It just stared blankly at him, mocking his very existence. Not even giving him the pleasure of retorting or getting a rise out of it. It just… stared. Then, its mechanical shoulders seemed to jostle slightly before it made its way to the charging station. He glared at it, "You laugh now, but it will happen one day."

Pyrrha watched the interaction between the two with interest. When or how Jaune somehow managed to make friends with a training robot she didn't know, but doing so was just so… Jaune-like that she couldn't question it. She chuckled at his antics, stretching her muscles as she spoke. "How about we wrap it up here for today? I think some food and rest will help drill in your form." The male student followed her example and stretched, it would probably be best to end it there lest the win streak reach 90. The two left the arena, one in more need of a shower than the other.

The two made their way to the cafeteria, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. "Thanks." His voice came from behind suddenly. The girl spun around, giving him a confused look. "You're understanding, caring and help me with Nora when Ren isn't here." He elaborated, "You have always been there for me, when I was being difficult with Cardin, during initiation, even when you thought I was feeling a little bummed out you made me that 'get better' dinner. And although I got food poisoning afterwards, it was still a kind gesture." She laughed sheepishly. Maybe making the dinner hadn't been the best idea, but it was the thought that counted. Besides, she got to nurse him back to health for an entire week. It took nearly an entire month to plan out, but in her opinion it was worth it. She never did find out why he had seemed so down for weeks on end, but seeing how that _woman_ he was with in Vale never came back Pyrrha was sure it had to do with her turning him down.

The red haired student's eyes widened considerably as she felt a warmth envelope her, her vision going mildly dark as if obscured by a body. "Really, what I'm trying to say is thanks for all you've done. I'm really glad you're my partner." She blushed, was this it? Would today be the day? He was hugging her right now wasn't he? Her brain reprimanded her like a drill sergeant, _do something woman_! Her body, however, was paralysed. Her heart beating a million miles a minute.  
"You're one of my best friends, and at the end of the day I wouldn't have it any other way." And just like that, he somehow managed to send all of her hopes crashing back to Remnant. She smiled warmly at him,

"M-me too." She replied sadly. Although she loved being friends with him, a big part of her knew she wanted more. "I'm glad that you're my partner as well." Jaune breathed a heavy sigh, feeling a weight lift off of his shoulders. A few seconds of awkward silence followed the unexpected thanks from the young boy. The red haired student gave him a questioning look after much pondering. "Jaune, what brought up the need to thank me all of a sudden?"

The knight shrugged at her despite fully well knowing the answer. "I just felt like I needed to get it across I guess. I want you to know just in case something happened..." The champion gave him a confused expression as he trailed off but decided to leave it alone. He would explain what he meant to her in due time, after all they were partners. Any secret of his was a secret of hers, and vice versa. She would tell him anything he wanted to know. "So what exactly did I miss out on in that one cooking class?" Except for that specific thing. She smiled nervously at him, her smile faltering slightly as bad memories began to surface.

"Nothing too important." Absolutely nothing at all interesting happened in that class as far as she was concerned and nothing could make her say otherwise. It was a memory best left forgotten. Pyrrha did wish however, that she had stayed in the dorm room to take care of Jaune rather than go to the class where_ absolutely nothing at all happened_... nope. "It's best if you don't dwell on it. I'm sure you'll figure it out sooner or later."

* * *

"In conclusion, bananas aren't meant to be eaten in one go." Argued Neptune pointedly. "If you eat it in one, you're missing out on the delicious taste. That, and it's unhealthy to swallow so much at once." He explained, pointing to a chalk diagram he had drawn with the permission of Port. He tapped his large pointing… device on the blackboard. "Understand?" The blond childhood friends stared blankly at the crude drawing, unable to comprehend any of it. Even Neptune's live display of the archaic manner in which he ate bananas was foreign to the two. Eating parts of it in small bites? It gave them shivers just thinking of it.

"Do you have any idea what he is trying to say?" 'Whispered' Sun to the other student beside him. The knight shook his head negative. Even with the help of his semblance he just couldn't wrap his head around whatever Neptune was saying. "Neither do I." The blue haired boy rubbed his temples,

He gave them a look, "I can hear you. You're not exactly being silent with your whispering. If anything, it's louder than talking normally." He pointed back to the diagram with his pointing device. "It's simple, _don't shove an entire banana in your mouth in one go_." Jaune frowned,

"But Sun told me that was how to do it. How else are you supposed to eat a banana properly?" It just didn't make sense to either of the two blonds. Neptune sighed, how was working with these two so hard? He turned to his teammate, an annoyed expression settling on his normally cool visage.

"Sun, where on Remnant did you learn that devouring it whole was the 'right way' to eat a banana?" He queried, an exasperated tone of voice signalling that just maybe he was getting tired of his two blond friends and their shenanigans. The monkey Faunus contemplated deeply on the subject. The cogs in his brain began to turn as he tried to identify the patient zero in the banana eating method.

Turning to Jaune he spoke, voice dead serious. "Dude, I think Light was the one who told me how to eat it." The knight blinked once, a brief pause of silence settling, before frowning thoughtfully. Neptune cocked his head to the sighed, _who or what is a Light?_ Turning to the two members of Team SSSN the blond writer's frown remained,

"If it's Light then…" He trailed off before placing a firm hand on the blue haired boy's shoulder, a glint in his eyes as he made eye contact. With a grin he finished, "Looks like you were right Neptune, we can't eat bananas whole… _ever again_." He emphasised the last point, this time looking Sun dead in the eyes. "Knowing Light, she did it for some form of personal pleasure. After all, she _really_ likes embarrassing Opal and I with her antics." The blond boy from Haven smirked at his friend,

"Not that it was too hard to do. After all, if something happened to one of you, it would happen to the other- and _you_ were easily embarrassed." Jaune glared at him lightly, he wasn't wrong. As twins they were unsurprisingly in sync, and just so happened to be doing whatever the other was doing at the time on most occasions. Several people they knew called it 'Emotional Telepathy' but he and Opal just chalked it up to mere coincidence. "Speaking of family, has your mom said anything who is coming?" He queried curiously.

Jaune leaned back in his seat, "I don't recall her saying anything specific about their visit except that herself and a few of my sisters would be arriving." He shivered, if Light came she and Yang would have a field day with their antics. Hopefully she was bringing the saner of his sisters because he wasn't sure if he could handle dealing with them on top of his life at Beacon. The three male students jumped on the spot as the door slammed open behind them, interrupting his thoughts.

A voice projected into the room from the open door, "There you are Mr Arc, I've been looking for you." Jaune's blood ran cold as he recognised the owner of the voice. Slowly turning on the spot he thought up everything that he had done recently that would get him into trouble with her. _It's just like whenever mom calls me!_ He cried mentally. He finally turned to Glynda, his mind whirling. "Now I see why you haven't been hearing the message. For whatever reason Peter got rid of his PA system." The leader of JNPR gave her a light chuckle as she made her way over, Professor Port had taken down the PA system in the Grimm Studies class because it had gotten in the way of his stories one time too many. The blond deputy turned to the two Haven students, "I will be borrowing Mr Arc for a while. Don't destroy this room or you will have to deal with…" A pleased expression found its way to her face, "Peter's ramblings in detention. Good day." With a flick of her crop Jaune was suddenly in the air and making his way to the door against his will, a cry of 'Not again!' echoed through the room as Goodwitch followed closely behind the floating boy. Sun and Neptune exchanged looks, faces pale.

"Let's uh, get out of this room. And not touch _anything_." The blue haired boy laughed nervously along with the monkey Faunus, detention with Port was not something he wanted to see any time soon.

* * *

Jaune frowned at the blond professor as they 'walked' down the corridor. "Miss Glyn- er, Goodwitch. You do realise I can walk right?" The older woman nodded, not bothering to turn and face him. Her eyes stayed forward, an aura of strange determination surrounding her calm demeanour. She continued to walk to an unknown destination as she spoke,

"I am well aware of that Mr Arc. I am also well aware that you can run. Away from here, or more specifically me." He laughed sheepishly, she had him there. Then again, making a break for it from the woman who can literally stop you in place with a wave of her hand wouldn't be a good idea. Ruby told him how Glynda shook an entire ship like a maraca without breaking a sweat when she first met her. Jaune sighed, exhausted as he resigned to the fate of floating next to the woman for an indefinite amount of time. Seeing as Glynda knew more about the school's inner workings than Ozpin more than likely did, he might as well get a few questions answered while he still could.

"Since when did Beacon have a Family Open Day?" He asked curiously. He had never heard about it before his mom had brought it up, and according to everyone else neither had they. The deputy frowned at his question,_ Beacon doesn't have a- oh dear_. The woman came to a sudden stop. Jaune blinked as the colour drained from the older blond's face. _Did she just-_?... He nodded with a sigh, answering his own mental question. Goodwitch had somehow stopped using her witchcraft while he was mid-air, resulting in the faint glow to dissipate as he was freed from her power. Inertia was still a thing however, so he found himself plummeting face-first into the ground several feet away from the still professor as a result of her brisk pace.

"Did _she_ tell you that there was a Family Open Day?" She asked slowly, fear and trepidation leaking from her tone. "Your mom?" She clarified. Jaune nodded from the floor, confused by the teacher's sudden frightened behaviour. She sighed, fear slowly morphing into irritation. "Of course she did. Listen Jaune, Beacon doesn't have a Family Open Day." The knight blinked as the older woman pinched the bridge of her nose, "Ozpin may owe your mother a favour… or ten, and he stills owes your dad after that one Blackjack game. So knowing Ozpin and your mother, she's using one of those to visit her only son and make sure he hasn't come to harm." He blinked again. Ozpin owed his parents? Since when did they know each other? And what happened between them to instil that much fear and irritation into Goodwitch? Only Nora and Ozpin were capable of that feat. More so the latter than the former though.

"I have so many questions." He said simply, a hand stroking his chin in thought. "But more importantly, why did you drag me out here?"

The woman adorned a misty look as she began what would turn out to be a _long_ explanation of a lesson's worth of events, "Well you see..."

* * *

Jaune stared at the deputy in confusion as she finished her admittedly lengthy and overly complicated explanation. "So you're saying because I missed out on _one_ lesson I need to take a supplemental one?" She nodded affirmatively, hand on hip accompanied by a pointed expression.

"Yes, you missed out on the introductory lesson so I want you to make up for it." Explained the witch. The knight frowned, he was sure Glynda knew he was fairly competent at cooking. At the very least good enough to not warrant the need to make it up. So why did he need to do the introductory lesson in his own time?

"But cooking by myself? A bit unfair don't you think?" He reasoned. Everyone else got to have each other to help them. Dust, Ren was a cooking wizard so the class probably went well.

Goodwitch shook her head negatively, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Don't worry, there will be _others _taking this class with you." She reassured cryptically, reaching for the door.

The writer's eyes widened when the door opened to reveal Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake. He sighed in relief, he would be lying if he said he wasn't glad about the fact that he wouldn't be cooking alone, but... He watched in mixed amusement as Yang and Blake fought over what ingredients they would be using. "Fish!" Cried the introvert as she pulled the bowl towards her. The busty blond shook her head and pulled the bowl to herself.

"Who's ever heard of fish in a cake? I say we put in chilli!" The two were suddenly tackled into the stove top as Ruby tripped over what appeared to be nothing and fell into the them, spilling the milk she was drinking over all three. Why Ruby believed drinking one of their main ingredients was a good idea he had no clue. Weiss, the poised and proper heiress, made a motion to help them up but slipped over the spilt milk, which then sent her flying straight out the conveniently open window.

Goodwitch face palmed while the knight just shook his head in pity, _Oh boy, I don't see this ending well_...

"M-miss Goodwitch?" Began Jaune as he slowly closed the door. Thankfully none of the girls had noticed their presence. "Why exactly are Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Blake all here?"

Goodwitch sighed heavily, rubbing a temple. "Look Jaune, I'll make it simple. You will all be working together to make a cake." Explained the teacher. "All the ingredients are ready along with a few others just to trick you. Just remember, I will be eating whatever you make." The blond gulped as the witch placed her hands on his shoulders, long nails gripping tightly and nearly drawing blood. _Thank dust for aura. _ "Listen, I don't expect much. Dust, I don't even care if it's terrible. As long as it can be called cake you five can never take this class again for all I care." The young writer eyed his fellow blond questioningly. _As long as it can be called cake? Just what happened last class?_ If he looked closely, he could almost see her shaking. "Well then Mr Arc." Jaune nodded expectantly, "It's all yours!" She cried before uncharacteristically running off.

_It will be alright Glynda, Jaune is good at cooking_. She reassured herself as she made her way to her office. _He'll make sure you'll live to see tomorrow, curse you Ozpin._ The witch's hand went to her crop, this was Ozpin's fault. It was _always_ Ozpin's fault. Why he wanted them to do a remedial class was beyond her. He would get his comeuppance one day!

The blond writer sighed and silently entered the room. What had to happen to make Goodwitch act like… that? Other than Nora's destructive rampages and Ozpin's schemes that is. "I take it Goodwitch wanted you to prevent us from destroying the school?" Jaune span around to see Blake mixing a bowl full of what he assumed was fish and cake mix. He shook his head,

"I think I'm supposed to help you bake this cake." He scratched his head as he watched her stir the strange mixture, "Why is everyone in Team RWBY here-" The knight paused and counted the number of females in the room, _one, two, three..._ "Wait, is Weiss okay?" Jaune's expression fell considerably as he rushed to the window in shock, Blake following suit. The two stared over the edge only to see the heiress dusting herself off casually. "Oh wait aura... right." He laid a hand on Blake's shoulder as the two heaved a sigh in relief. _Thank dust. If something happened to my teammate I would've-_ The young author froze, those weren't his thoughts. Sparing a glance to his left the blond knight stared questioningly at his book buddy. He shook his head and rubbed his temples, heaving a tired sigh. That must've been the sleep deprivation speaking. "Why is everyone making something different?" The cat Faunus shrugged,

"I want to make a fish cake, Yang wants to make a chili cake, Ruby just wants cookies and I think Weiss just wants to pass. Really, I don't know why we can't just make a fish cake. I'm sure Professor Goodwitch will enjoy it." Jaune watched unfazed as the youngest of the group brought out a batch of freshly baked cookies only for them to explode in her face as she tried to dip it into milk, startling Yang into dropping her cake mix. Which then exploded.

He rubbed his temples slowly. _I think I know why Goodwitch wants me to take this extra class_. The combination of Ruby, Yang, Blake and _Weiss_ cooking together was deadly. "Oh hey Vomit Boy, didn't see you there." Greeted the blond girl from the floor casually. The knight waved back at the downed student hesitantly,

"Hey Jaune!" He turned to see Ruby waving the smoke away, revealing a cake sized hole in the floor. "What brings you here?" She queried, taking a bite out of a smoking cookie. The male student began rubbing his temple again,

"Miss Goodwitch wants me to take a supplementary class. To pass I have to make sure you guys don't kill her with your cooking." He stated bluntly. The rose smiled,

"So you're going to help us pass?"

He shook his head, "Nope. I'm just going to make sure you all don't kill her." There was no point trying to do the impossible in one go, might as well take baby steps and not killing someone should be easy enough. Hopefully Weiss would get back soon, he needed more sane people to keep the rest of the team, namely Yang, in check. "First of all, you should be making one cake, not two cakes and a batch of explosives." Ruby laughed sheepishly, "Secondly, why is Yang, regrettably the most competent of Team RWBY in terms of cooking, making a chili cake?" The young woman shrugged at the question, making no attempt to get up from the floor.

"I wanted something to spice up the class, but now that you're here~" She purred at him, flicking a hand in a cliché catlike gesture despite Blake being in the room and herself being on the floor. "Hows about you and I have that date you owe me Vomit Boy?" She winked, "I can deal with a failed class." The group of students jumped as the door slammed open to reveal a certain heiress.

"Definitely not." She snapped, her heels clicking on the tiled floor as she entered the room. "I will not have a teammate failing a class. It'll make me look bad as co-leader." Jaune raised a brow, sending a look at Ruby. _Co-leader?_ The young leader laughed sheepishly once more. Blake sighed before moving back to mixing her fish cake, from the looks of the situation she'd need to finish this for them to even _have_ a cake to give to Goodwitch. Two batches had exploded already after all so she wouldn't take any chances. Next lesson they were making sandwiches. _Tuna_ sandwiches included.

The white haired girl span on the spot, a finger pointed at the only male in the room. "Arc, you're going to help us pass whether you like it or not." She demanded. Weiss took a couple of steps closer to the boy, "I don't know why you're here, but now you're going to cook." The young author winced as a bunch of bananas were thrust into his hand roughly. "Now peel."

He saluted, "Yes Mistress Snow Angel!" He snickered as a bowl was thrown at him, dodging to the side before beginning the task bestowed onto him. Ruby and Yang shared an annoyed look. The heiress glared at the sisters, "What are you doing dawdling aimlessly, get to work you two!" She snapped, clapping her hands together hurriedly.

The blond brawler rolled her eyes, making her way to the counter. "Last time I checked you weren't the best cook."

The girl nodded, "And that is why I will supervise. Yang, you're going to work on flavour, Ruby, the cake batter and Jaune will do decoration." She turned to the three students, "Yang, no gunpowder, Ruby, no cookie batter and Jaune… stop eating that banana." Amber eyes span around at the mention of banana eating only to be disappointed at the result. His _entrancing_ way of eating had grown on her slightly. "Blake, you keep making that backup cake. After all, we can't completely trust Yang with _flavour_." The buxom boxer glared lightly at the flat member of their team but refrained from making a comment, instead she turned to her partner.

"I guess that makes you the Backup-Blake! Ehh? Ehh?" She quipped. The rest of her team just groaned, already sick of her puns. Her sister of all people booed her. However, amidst the outcry of the nonbelievers a ray of yellow broke through with its glorious laughter.

Jaune was laughing.

The members of Team RWBY gaped in surprise. _Jaune was laughing_. She grinned at the young writer, sliding along the counter towards the cooking blond. "I can't help but notice you laughed at my pun Vomit Boy~" The novice knight took a step back,

"Is there something wrong with that?" He asked hesitantly. _Dust, this is Dust Alchemy all over again!_ He cried mentally. The blond student shook his head to clear his thoughts of fear. He wouldn't show weakness, he was an Arc. The boxer shook her head, a hand slowly making its way towards the boy.

"Not at all Vomit Boy. If anything it's _right_. Now I'm sure you and I should have that date. Just you, me, a couple of puns and a room. What do you say?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him suggestively from the counter top. Jaune just kept his gaze at his feet uncomfortably.

"Absolutely not." Snapped Weiss coldly. "We need to get this done Yang. I will not fail this class just because of your obsessions over puns." Jaune nodded along with her, Glynda would kill him otherwise.

"I too would like to pass." His fellow blond winked at him, he passed in her books. Laughing nervously he continued, "How about we just, I don't know, work on the cake for now?" He turned to the black haired bookworm in an attempt to ignore Yang's admittedly cute pout. "How is the back-up cake going along?" The girl shrugged at the question. Testing a small part of the batter Blake wiggled her bow in delight, a placated expression settling on her face.

Flashing the rest of the group a thumbs up the Faunus girl continued her cooking. Weiss nodded, pleased. "Alright, Jaune get the decorations ready whilst Ruby gets the batter done." Saluting, the single male in the room began to sort the ingredients into two categories. Things that would make good cake decoration, and things that would more than likely poison Professor Goodwitch. Of course they would be using the former in their cake and wouldn't intentionally give Goodwitch food poisoning, that thought hadn't crossed Jaune's mind multiple times at all. From the corner of his eye Jaune could see his fellow blond grin at the pseudo cooking leader.

"So Princess, how do you feel about a chili cake?" The idea was shot down immediately via a weak chop to the head from the heiress, an unamused frown staring back at the busty boxer. Yang pursed her lips at her teammate. "Tomato?" Another hit to the head, harder this time. "Strawberry it is then." She grumbled as she began her work, poking a tongue out at Weiss. "Spoilsport." She shot under her breath.

Weiss gave a confident smirk as she watched the group work. With Yang on taste, Ruby on batter and Jaune on decoration they were sure to pass. It didn't hurt that Blake was making some sort of back-up cake. _'It's a shame we can't cook. A nice home cooked meal is apparently what most men like._' The white haired heiress rolled her eyes.  
"I can cook." She retorted, the faintest traces of hurt underlying her voice. "Besides, there are ways other than food girls can use to get through to men."

'_We lack the ability to use at least eight of those.'_ Weiss glared at the quip. She didn't have to listen to this mutiny.

"It's not like we need to use any of them." She retorted, "Besides, we have a group making a cake to direct."  
_'About that…'_ The heiress jumped backwards in surprise as a strawberry cake appeared before her, looking surprisingly well done. Looking up she saw the grinning face of one confident Yang Xiao Long. From behind her it was obvious that Jaune was having trouble keeping the resident cookie and strawberry lover away from the cake.

"How did you-"

"-Bake it so quickly?" Finished Yang, her proud voice overpowering Weiss' confused one. "Unfortunately since we weren't allowed to use gunpowder we used some leftover cookie mix, that wasn't explosive -I think-, to help flavour the batter and added a smidgen of fire dust to the oven." The white haired girl's attention dropped to the more than burnt oven. Not only was the metal door to it wedged into the wall, but it appeared as if Jaune was cooked well done as he held Ruby back, his clothes singed slightly.

"Ruby no, that's Glynda's cake!" Cried the knight as he tried to futily hold her back by the hem of her cape. Ignoring him, the younger student pulled harder against the young author. With swiftness resembling her semblance Ruby took off her cape, surprising everyone in the room who had never seen the girl without her cape.

Yang fell backwards as she was tackled to the floor by her younger sister, sending the cookie, strawberry cake upwards and over the still confused 'co-leader'. Jaune watched in horror, hand still outstretched as if he could still grab Ruby, as the cake began its descent. Weiss followed his line of sight to the end point of the flying cake's trajectory and as if by some stroke of misfortune it happened to be heading for one Glynda Goodwitch. Ruby and Yang gasped from their spot on the ground as the cake made contact, splattering pink and white frosting around the general area. Strawberry and cookie flavoured pieces flew onto the floor dramatically as a single tear began to form in the young reaper's eyes.

And as if the situation couldn't have gotten worse, Goodwitch exploded. Not in the angry way too. The blond professor of Beacon exploded in a very literal manner. And so did the parts of the floor the cake had landed on. Ice blue eyes stared unblinkingly at the _new_ hole in the floor, slowly making their way to contact the sheepish lilac and silver eyes of her teammates. "We at least have the back-up Blake… right princess?" It was more of a hopeful question than a reassuring statement to the heiress. The three members of Team RWBY turned to their final teammate with hopeful looks.

Blake gazed back at them, a guilty expression slapped clearly onto her features along with a few crumbs of fish cake. The empty plate before her spoke for itself. "In my defence." Started the feline Faunus, "I was fully confident in my teammate's collective ability to cook and saw no need for a back-up cake."

'_Oh we are going to be in so much trouble_._'_ Weiss nodded solemnly. Yang phrasing the concerns of the entire team in one sentence,

"I think the correct terminology for this situation is, we are royally screwed." The other three girls nodded along, for once agreeing with their blond teammate. The heiress paused, speaking of blonds... "Wait, where did Jaune go?" Ruby and Blake shared a look with the other members of team RWBY. "How did he-" The youngest of the five females in the room pointed at the hole in the floor. Yang's eyes flared just as brightly as the fire on Goodwitch's cape. Weiss sighed, now there were two ticked off blond women. Yang's eyes burned holes into the... hole in the ground... with the intensity of her glare. "Oh that little-"

* * *

Entering the JNPR dorm room after the creation of _the cake_, the blond boy was surprised to see two of his teammates. Namely the N and R of JNPR. What surprised him however wasn't their presence, but rather the lack of Nora's destructive rampage or bubbly babbling. Approaching the two partners he took note of their appearance and frowned. Ren was silent, not much of a change to be honest, but the look of hidden depression on his face was evident. Over their months at Beacon as a team Jaune had come to think of and understand Ren as if the brother he never had but _really_ could've used when he was younger what with all the women. He shivered at the thought of his team finding out what his sisters had done to him, no matter what they said young men should not be wearing frilly dresses. It was emasculating. The next time he wore one it would be when the unthinkable happened, a miracle be it good or bad.

His sisters forcing him to crossdress was beside the point though. Point was he had come to understand Ren's way of thinking, which was 'Anything that hurts Nora dies. Either by her or me'. It didn't take a semblance to read minds to be able to recover that from the black haired boy's constant doting of the girl. The only thing that would bring him down would be his childhood friend's unhappiness. That then brought the young leader to the next problem.

Jaune stared silently at the Valkyrie's downcast expression, it was just _wrong_ to see Nora not happy, bouncing around and causing mayhem with every five steps. He turned to Ren, "What's gotten her so down?" The stoic boy sighed,

"Nora feels as if the word scramble in the newspaper cheated her." He explained to the best of his ability, "She won't tell me exactly what that means though." The two males of JNPR watched as the girl rocked back and forth on the bed, _clearly_ she didn't like it when someone cheated. The knight's frown deepened. The black haired male turned to his friend, "Have any ideas?" He shrugged, _Might as well see what I can do._

Walking up to the girl he smiled in a way that he hoped was soothing, "What's up?" The novice knight's smile faltered upon receiving no response, but trying his best he kept it up. "Nora?" To his surprise the girl turned around with tears in her eyes,

"Fearless leader!" She wailed, tackling the blond to the floor. "The newspaper cheated!" Jaune chuckled at her, rubbing her head soothingly and also mouthing for help from Ren. The black haired boy shrugged, a smirk on his face. Wide smirk still present he slowly exited the room. The writer stared agape as the boy left him to take care of the pancake fanatic alone.

Ren stood outside the dorm room silently, back against the door as his smile faded. As much as he loathed the idea of it, he couldn't help his best friend out of her funk. He had no way to understand the inner workings of Nora Valkyrie, all he could do was take care of his best friend the only way he knew how. Make her the best pancakes she's ever had.

However, if his instincts were right, his leader would be able to do what he couldn't.

Jaune gazed upon the door before him, a sliver of trepidation hidden behind his confident smile. He had taken Nora here knowing that the ladies of RWBY would be able to cheer the Valkyrie up but he didn't know if they had returned yet. Steeling his nerves the young man rapped on the door, sending a soothing smile towards the still sniffling girl. "Don't worry, if it's a test of knowledge Blake and Weiss are the smartest girls I know. Ruby has her days of surprisingly good advice and Yang-" There was a pregnant pause as the blond failed to think of anything. "Uh, she's good at cheering people up?" Though there _was_ that case where they teamed up on Blake, so he had to give her points for that encounter. He frowned in thought. Weren't they going into Vale to find clues with Blake at some point? Shrugging to himself Jaune continued knocking on the door, "Anyone home?"

With a grin and a cocked fist the door swung open to reveal Yang. Who then swung back. "Hello~" She sang to the downed boy, "Thanks for leaving us alone with Goodwitch. Thought I'd just return the favour eh?" Jaune smiled at Nora, once again thankful for the existence of aura as he nursed the Yang-fist-sized red spot on his cheek.

"See what I mean?" The upset girl's mouth crawled the smallest amount upwards, a win in his books. Jaune winced as he moved into a sitting position. Unfortunately aura didn't do much on pain. Still hurt like mad. "Now before I apologise-" he ducked under a book only to receive a pillow to the head, courtesy of an unknown occupant in the room. "I'm fully aware I deserve this." He coughed, "But I would like to help Nora with a little problem of hers."

The blond girl turned to the Valkyrie, finally noticing her distressed expression. With a cry of 'What's wrong?' The girl pulled her into a hug, dragging her into the dorm room of Team RWBY as she did so. Jaune followed suit, explaining the situation. "So apparently the newspaper cheated in one of its puzzles." He began, "And who better than you guys to fix it- where's Ruby and Weiss?" Blake, the person who had flung objects at him, shrugged.

"Why don't you ask Goodwitch? Or maybe check the hole in the home ec lab." Based on her tone it didn't sound like a shot at him, but boy did it sting. Did Blake always sound so condescending? Or uninterested?

"At any rate, we need the help of you gals to solve what Nora apparently couldn't. Ms Valkyrie, if you would?" The normally exuberant girl nodded, still within the arms of the strangely mother-like figure of Team RWBY.

Blake stared at the sheet of paper the girl pulled out of… somewhere and began to read.

Word Scramble

TOLSH

NAAMCEADBEYO

EUQNE

AJNECRUA

ZPZAI

AICELPNSEC

Blake stared at the sheet in confusion. "What is wrong about these?" She asked, perplexed by the girl's source of negativity. Wordlessly, she pointed to a specific scramble, 'AJNECRUA', and the hint that came with it.

"Without a doubt the answer should've been my fearless leader, but instead the answer was-"

"Jane Caur." Finished the other three simultaneously, astonishing her slightly at the synchronisation. Some a little more excited than others. Yang let go of the girl as she took hold of the paper to take a closer look. Seeing Nora's confused look she decided to elaborate.

"Jane Caur is an author." She stated, proceeding to bring out an example book. "And since she was interviewed by this newspaper not too long ago she was featured in the scramble." Nora turned to the paper, still unconvinced. As she tried to process the information in her head she took a few steps closer to the window, gazing outside in thought.

She'd seen Ren do the very same thing plenty of times after one of her destructive rampages. She brought a hand to her chin, emulating his thinking pose.

_He would contemplate life for a bit._

She opened the window.

_Let some fresh air in_.

She took a step towards the open window.

_And just before deciding to jump out he would come to a conclusion that would always favour her way of thinking, no matter what the facts were pointing to._

The Valkyrie span around, facing the three other students, and outstretched her arms, the beginnings of a wide grin on her face. _Nora's_ face. Moving from zero to one hundred the girl's exuberant personality came back full force with all of it aiming towards her poor leader. Jaune gulped audibly as blue was frozen in place by deep green. "Jaune, you must actually be Ja-!"Out of strange habit, the blond knight tackled the Valkyrie, placing his hand over her mouth to silence her. What he hadn't accounted for, was the window behind her. Blake and Yang watched incredulously as the two fell out the window.

Yang's eyes widened considerably as she rushed to the window in shock. "Dust are they oka- oh wait aura. Right." Blake sighed, equally worried but remembered that aura was a thing. _What was Nora about to say? She really knows Jaune is what?_ She stared at the blond by the window. _Well, they say curiosity killed the cat but I don't know any Faunus named Curiosity so-_ The black haired bookworm blinked, somehow finding herself on the other side of the room to where she was standing just a moment ago. So she _did_ pace when she was worried.

* * *

Pyrrha strolled silently through the Beacon Gardens, her mind currently occupied by a certain blond teammate. A hand brushed over an arm as she walked, gripping it lightly. It wasn't champion-like to be ruled by your own emotions. Time and time again she had to hide her true emotions behind a smile. Her first impression of the resident heiress hadn't been the best, not after she was so keen on spreading the word of 'Pyrrha Nikos'. Hiding her irritation behind a smile all she could do was nod along to whatever she said.

Letting the chips fall where they may.

That was what she was planning to do come initiation. However, the grandiose entrance of one Jaune Arc had changed that plan. Instead she wanted to seek him out. After _subtly_ trying to secure the position as his partner had failed due to an unfortunate run-in, she tried a more direct approach. As in, directly approach the area in which she saw him land.

Jaune Arc. Her partner for months. Her _friend_. He started off not even knowing who she was, _her_, _Pyrrha Nikos_ and only realised the gravity of her achievements through a cereal box! Whenever she was around him it was as if she wore her emotions on her sleeve, he could read everything about her and what she was feeling with a simple touch. And yet he couldn't read the most important one. Her feelings for him.

Her hand tightened around her arm, she wanted to tell him so badly. Why did everything come out so easily except for that? She was _Pyrrha Nikos_ a champion for dust sake. Surely love was child's play to her? The girl sighed, rounding a corner. Perhaps that was the whole problem. She was Pyrrha Nikos, the awkward teen who had been put on a pedestal ever since she was young. The untouchable champion that just wanted somebody to reach out to her. Now that people were finally doing that, she wasn't able to hide her emotions properly.

Not today though. No, she would change. Determination surged through her, deep green eyes taking on a striking appearance. She would do it, next time she saw him she would make clear her feelings.

"Sorry about the leg. I didn't realise you were low on aura. Lack of sleep does that to you." Apologized a voice. Pyrrha froze, determination shifting slightly. _Too soon, too soon, too soon._ She wailed mentally. The Spartan girl shook her head roughly. No, she would do it. She had to do it.

Taking in a deep breath she turned in the direction of the voice. "Jaune, the truth is..." She paused, was she going to do this? Pyrrha smiled, looking up to face the knight. "The truth is I actually love- Nora?" She gasped, stunned to see that her blond partner was giving the bubbly Valkyrie a piggyback.

The author too bore an expression of shock, which then morphed into a look of… confused understanding? He nodded slowly. "Okay Pyr, um, I won't judge?" He trailed off questioningly. He had never been in this situation before, so it counted at research. That was his story and he was sticking to it. Yep. "In that case, how about you… carry your um, person of affection. I'll get out of your way." He awkwardly handed the girl to his partner. The red haired girl just stood on the spot, holding her teammate in her arms as her true object of affection hurried off.

"Can we have pancakes when we get home dearie?" Cooed Nora as she cuddled up to the champion. "We're also going to have to talk about your stance on sloths." Pyrrha's distraught gaze turned to the pancake lover, one arm still outstretched towards the direction the knight had ran off. That certainly had not gone as planned.

* * *

As he approached his dorm room Jaune's eyes widened briefly upon seeing _them_ on his way back from… Whatever that was. Not the most orthodox way of confessing he would admit, but he'd give Pyrrha bravery points. He would also have to take some points away for involving him in the process though. That was besides the point. Right now, standing before him in the strangely empty halls of _Beacon Academy_, were Cinder, Emerald and Mercury. _If you don't want me to reveal your secret then don't be surprised the next time we meet._ The four stood in the hallway in silence.

Cinder turned to her two lackeys, dismissing them with a wave of her hand. "Mercury, Emerald, the adults are talking." Mercury grinned and saluted the blond boy before walking off, dragging a hesitant Emerald behind him. Cinder smirked at him, "You did a wonderful job carrying out orders, but I could've done without the cliché eye widening." The knight glared at the queen, what was a supposed writer slash woman-that-was-blackmailing-him doing in Beacon? He didn't need this right now, especially so since Cardin had already helped him with his research on being exploited.

"What are you doing here?"

She laughed, a warm feeling encompassed him as the deadly woman stared him down. Unfortunately it wasn't the good kind of warm feeling. She took a few steps around him, a predator circling her prey. He winced as the temperature noticeably ramped up. "Oh Jaune, you're in no position to question me. After all, I'm sure you still haven't told them about _that _yet." His fists clenched at her words but he said nothing. He _couldn't_ say anything. She was right.

"Don't you dare hurt any of my friends Cinder, or I swear I will hunt you down." She scoffed at the petty threat, he was hardly anything more than a toy in her eyes after all.

"An amusing proposition." His fist hit the wall in anger, the echo of the impact filled the silence between his defiant glare and her burning gaze. Did she think it was some kind of deal he was trying to strike with her? Her eyes flickered dangerously at the action, the feeling of heat around him raising drastically. "You shouldn't raise a fist against a woman, it's ungentlemanly."

"Tell me that again when there's a woman around." He spat back despite the increasingly unbearable heat. Despite his best attempts to hide his discomfort he couldn't hide his perspiration nor his ragged breathing. She smiled back at him, a hand moving towards his cheek. He slapped the hand away, drawing a frown from the woman who began to briskly walk off. No one had dared to defy her whilst she was in the middle of asserting her rule before.

"So long as your friends don't get in my way, no harm will become of them." She stated ominously, a tone and expression of finality accompanied the end of their conversation. Just like that the heat died in a single motion. Cinder's hips swung as she walked off, but Jaune had already turned the other way and left. He could still feel the heat weakly persisting in his clothes as he stumbled off. He shook his head, not confused in the least about Cinder's true nature.

She was no woman, she was a devil in disguise, and he would do everything in his power to make sure her plans never came to fruition. No harm would come to his team, his friends, or even Roman.

Neo would kill him otherwise.

* * *

**And there we have it! Drawing a few parallels with Jaune and Roman in the final scene and our blond knight has unsurprisingly, for us, ran into the woman that has him by the balls, the woman that nearly killed his friend and a man who just learned that attempting to piss him off is fun. The poor boy. Next chapter Jaune's mom and a few of his siblings roll up to **_**talk**_** with his many, **_**many**_** female friends. The poor girls.**

**Turns out Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty, and old Fire Emblem games were a lot more addictive than I thought it would be. Expect references to the two meta-as-hell shows and great Tactical JRPG in the future. Who knows, there may have been some already.**

**Now, before we end this, a small omake to celebrate one year of Jaune's Guilty Pleasure!**

* * *

~Omake~ Birthday

Jaune yawned loudly, getting up at his usual time of ten in the morning. A sated smile adorned his face as he shuffled out of bed, stumbling his way to the shower in a tired daze. Having nine other people using the same hot water made for the habit of not taking any longer than five minutes lest they trigger the ire of the person after them. In record time he was out and dressed, ready for a full day of getting whooped by Violet at video games. As if having mirrored his exact moves for her own morning routine Opal exited from her bedroom at the same time, showered and dressed. Even though he had entered the shower after her he was a hair width away from perfecting his fast dressing technique, leading to a similar exit time. "Mornin' little bro." Greeted the young woman with a tired smile. The two yawned in sync as they stretched and made their way to food. The young man lazily glared at his twin,

"We're the same age, you aren't older." He stated pointedly,

The girl gave him a light grin, "Am too, by seven seconds." He poked his tongue out at her, a sign she won the argument and he couldn't think of anything else. A recurring argument spanning over several years floated above their young heads, the age old question of whether or not Opal was older. Once the twins entered the living room they were treated to getting jumped by the two youngest of their family. Jaune's mouth widened into a grin as he and his twin caught the younger twins Azure and Misty.

"Happy Birthday!" They cheered happily. The two blond twins gave each other a surprised look before grinning at their younger siblings. They had completely forgotten that it was today. Keeping track of eight other birthdays made it a bit hard to remember. Jaune ruffled Azure's hair affectionately, earning a pout from the younger girl. Just like him Azure was just a bit younger than her twin, leading to a form of camaraderie between the two Arc children.

"Where are they?" Shouted a voice from the other room. The twins paled as they held the younger of the four up as a shield against the incoming threat. "There you are!" Cried Light, running in between the meat shields and tackling the two onto the couch. She nuzzled them affectionately, much to their dismay. "It's your birthday so I'm going to spoil you silly."

Opal rolled her eyes from inside her arms, "As if you don't do that any other day." Jaune nodded in agreement, still caught in the vice grip that was Light's affection. "You're only a couple of years older than us, don't treat us like we're still children." Jaune nodded again.

The two birthday children stopped squirming once their mother entered the room. "Stop fighting you two." She scolded lightly. At this point in time she barely reached the height of Jaune and Opal, the two growing very quickly as opposed to the woman who _still_ looked young enough to be in high school. The blond mother gave them a pointed look. "Your father is currently busy, and Luna, Lily and Violet are out so you're going to have to wait for their gifts." She explained, "But in the meantime you can open your gifts after we have breakfast." The two blond twins cheered, breaking out of Light's hold and hugging the woman.

Light smiled as she gave them a wink. "Just wait 'till you open my gifts." Azure nodded along, a twinkle in her young eyes. She had helped choose the gift for her awesome brother and Misty helped come up with Opal's gift. Her twin gave a knowing smirk as she pushed up her glasses with an almost cocky expression, she had taken careful consideration for her gift whilst Azure chose... something she thought would be nice.

After scarfing down their food like they hadn't eaten in weeks the birthday twins found themselves back in the living room, each with two different wrapped presents in front of them. Jaune gestured to his sister, "You go first." She shook her head, gesturing for him to go before her. Sharing a single look the two exchanged an entire conversation and instead chose to open the gifts at the same time.

Jaune's eyes widened considerably as he opened his gift from Light and found several issues of X-Ray and Vav, and a notebook all wrapped up in a blue onesie. He grinned at Light and the two younger twins, pulling them into a tight hug. Light squealed silently at the unusually voluntary display of affection from her younger sibling. Opal, upon seeing her gifts, joined the hug causing the older girl's squeal to become audible. Misty pushed up her glasses, she knew she would like her gift. The oldest of the five Arc children laughed at the sudden display of affection from the normally unwilling twins and nuzzled the two birthday siblings once again. The young bookworm looked at the notebook with starry eyes. It was small, pocket-sized, and came with a pen. Pressing a button on its side he was surprised to see a red beam of light streak across the room, illuminating a small point on the wall opposite of them.

"Mom look!" Shouted Opal, trying on the jacket Misty got her. The young looking woman smiled at them, giving praise to the look of her new clothing and… whatever Azure got Jaune, before exiting the room. Opal stared at the blue _thing_ Azure got for her twin. The young male had put it on in record time and was now strutting back and forth for their other siblings like a model. With a light chuckle at his antics she turned to the gift Misty had gotten her. A blue framed picture of herself and Jaune that the girl had no doubt taken no less than a week ago. She smiled warmly at the memory.

Everyone's attention was brought to the door as a large cake was brought in, dozens of candles illuminating the room despite it being very much day. Jaune blinked, "Mom we aren't turning _that_ old yet." Opal nodded,

"Are you sure that cake isn't for you-" she yelped as the cake knife suddenly appeared next to her, halfway embedded into the floor. "Thanks for the cake!" She corrected hurriedly. The occupants of the room laughed heartily at the young girl.

"Make a wish." The twins nodded, walking up to either side of the cake before blowing on it simultaneously.

Azure ran up to Jaune excitedly with Misty following closely behind, "What did you wish for?" She asked curiously. The blond shook his head with an amused look. If he told her, that would mean it wouldn't come true. He paused momentarily before sitting down on the couch, gesturing for the younger twins to sit next to him. He didn't need a wish to get what he wanted, he would do it with his own determination and some help from family and any friends he made along the way.

Jaune smiled wistfully at the two girls sitting either side of him, running a hand through Misty's neck length hair and messing around with one of Azure's twin tails with the other. "One day I want to go to Beacon and write my own story." He stated simply. The youngest of the three gave him a weird look, hadn't he already written a lot of books?

"Beacon?" Repeated the girl. Opal perked up slightly, not that anyone had noticed. Unlike her, Jaune decided not to go to a hunter school. So how was he, a boy who spent most of his time engrossed in and writing books, going to get into Beacon?

He chuckled and brought out a small map for Azure, oblivious to his twin's concerns. "You see over here?" He pointed over to Vale, watching his two younger sisters' small hands clutch at the map curiously. At their age it was a little too hard for them to even pretend to follow, however they still tried their hardest.

"So it is a different time there?" He nodded, proud of their understanding of the situation. "So when we are having dinner, you will have breakfast. If you take an airship and run really fast you can have two dinners and two breakfasts" the knight chuckled and hugged the two, ruffling their heads affectionately. He would miss them and their childlike innocence when he left. Their mother watched the scene with a warm smile, glad that they were so happy with their gifts. She would have to give them hers at a later time, after all she didn't want to disturb them when they seemed so content. Save for Opal who couldn't get out of Light's embrace. She chuckled, it almost seemed like nothing could break the peacefulness of the moment.

Within a second of her formulating the thought, the door burst open. A man grinned as he entered the room, brandishing both Crocea Mors and beer as a young girl followed behind him apprehensively. Jaune's eyes widened as he recognised her as the girl that he and Sun had gone to school with once. With a hearty chuckle the man spoke, voice booming. "Jaune, I have brought you the three greatest gifts a man could want!" Laughed his father, "A weapon, booze and a woman!" Jaune just gave his father a strange look before moving his attention to the girl, mouthing to her his apologies.

Without a moment's hesitation, a swift kick to the groin brought the proud man down. The young looking mother dusted her hands clean despite only using her leg to bring him to his knees. She turned to the young girl and shooed her off, she didn't need anyone corrupting her little sweetheart after all. The girl ran out of the house hurriedly, but not before greeting Jaune happy birthday. She sighed as she made her way back home, somewhat fearful of the strange overprotective woman. One thought circled through her head. How was she going to explain this to her dad?

* * *

**See you next chapter, until then please Follow, Favourite and Review your thoughts.**

**Those who spot a specific reference get… Weiss, Ruby and Yang** _**not**_** burning down Beacon? ****That and a fish cake cooked by Blake and sprinkled with love... and maybe a pinch of Faunus angst may have gotten in them too.**


	24. Chapter 24 - Family Reunion Pt 1

**So… been a while huh? I apologise about that, time goes by quickly when you're busy. Half of it was because of personal reasons, and the other half was because I got side tracked by dozens of things; games, anime, YouTube, other stuff that would make me seem like a nerd with no life. At any rate, welcome to another chapter of Jaune's Guilty Pleasure. Obviously many of you have probably forgotten what's happened, so here's a little recap:**

**\- Jaune and friends, after arriving back from Pharos, settled back into their school lives. Unfortunately, Pyrrha's attempt to 'cheer' Jaune up ended with him bedridden and unable to attend classes.**  
**-After recovering he spent his free time in the library trying to catch up on missed classes, and training with Pyrrha.**  
**-In a strange turn of events, Neptune convinces Sun and Jaune to stop eating bananas in one go and Goodwitch forces our blond writer to make up for his missed cooking class by helping the members of RWBY bake a cake.**  
**-It went as well as one would expect, with the cake literally blowing up in their faces and Yang finding out once again that Jaune finds her puns amusing.**  
**-After escaping the wrath of Goodwitch, Jaune finds an upset Nora who - after a short series of events - ignores any form of logic and comes to the conclusion that Jaune is Jane Caur. That then leads to them flying out a window...**  
**-A hop, a skip and a Pyrrha accidentally confessing to Nora instead of Jaune later, Jaune encounters Cinder in Beacon of all places. The two exchange some form of banter before Jaune leaves, pledging to stop whatever the woman blackmailing him was planning.**

**Now, because I've been gone so long there have been a lot of reviews in that time. In order to keep this short I will only answer the reviews that need responses, wouldn't want to keep you waiting any longer. Though thanks to the people who gave me advice on writing properly, haven't ever written a fictional story of my own accord before.**

**Reviews!**

**Guard1an:** Maybe, maybe not. If he does, the status quo will be broken.

**Dark Durian: **The 'skater chick' that has been mentioned on several occasions. You can probably guess who it is.

**zeek17:** Thanks for the advice.

**Noble4259:** Thanks. I like to believe that most of the girls have a fair shot at Jaune, but only one can win in the end.

**Googlemo:** You probably won't see this, I understand what you're trying to say. However, that was a bit harsh don't you think? And on Chapter 4 of 23 too.

**And finally,**

**Disclaimer- I do not own RWBY, nor do I own anything I make reference to in this fanfic. They all belong to Rooster Teeth or their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 24 – Family Reunion Pt 1.

"Yang Xiao Long and Jaune Arc." Announced Goodwitch. The knight melted into his seat a little at the flirty wink Yang sent him. Ever since she had learnt that he found her puns funny, _again_, not only was she more open with her advances but she was getting a little more physical with him too. He rubbed his shoulder,_ physical_ as in the blonde boxer didn't know how to hold back punches, even if they were done jokingly. _Physical_ as in the infirmary was getting tired of seeing him every second period.

Oblivious to his plight, the witch continued. "Please prepare yourselves and head to the arena." Jaune sighed, was it bad that he would've taken the previous leader vs leader exercise over this? Unfortunately for him, Goodwitch thought it would be a good idea to stop using the supposedly randomised challenger system for this week. Something about reparations to the randomisation process as coffee got spilled into it.

With a long drawn out exhale the blond got his gear ready. Jaune gave a proud smiled to his new ammo belt, recommended by none other than the weapons expert herself, Ruby Rose. According to the girl, something about the way the belt tilted was supposed to make one-handed reloads easier. He shifted the ammo slightly before holstering his handgun. Ruby said he needed to name it, but it wasn't something he could come up with on a whim. All he could think of for names at the moment were Billy, Billy 1, Billy Alpha and Gun. What did one normally name a gun? He shrugged to himself, he'd figure it out sooner or later. Maybe he should just pick a name out of the hat he used for his novels.

Yang gave a smirk to her opponent as he entered the opposite side of the arena, begrudgingly exiting the sanctuary that was the combat prep room. "Go easy on me~" She teased. Jaune rolled his eyes, if he did he wouldn't last a second. If he was going to be fighting Yang he couldn't pull any punches. He'd have to give this one his all because he knew she would do the same. Unlike Ruby she wouldn't hold back against him and unlike Sun, she now knew about his secret weapon. Her fighting style was completely different to Pyrrha and that one guy he fought in Vale. He didn't even need to compare her to that lady that kicked his behind to Haven and back at the docks. And then groped his behind repeatedly. He shivered, a hand unconsciously covering his back, now was not the time for PTSD. Determined blue eyes met with equally unyielding lilac. The two blonds watched impatiently as the starting timer ticked down, both bouncing on the balls of their feet. He trusted what Pyrrha had taught him up to now, and thanks to his semblance he had a vague idea of how Yang thought and her weaknesses. At least, he knew what her weaknesses were back when they first arrived at Beacon. It was better than nothing right?

Before he knew it, the timer had rung. However, this time he was ready. Yang dashed forward, ready to intercept an overhead slash that she had noticed Jaune tended to prefer. Only to stagger backwards as she was met face to steel with his shield. She stared at him confusedly, taking a moment to assess his stance. Not only was it loose, he was holding the shield in his right hand, sword still sheathed above. In his left was that handgun he used.

From the stands Pyrrha gave him a proud smile, he had thought things through. Yang's punches were nothing to be trifled with. Not only were they fast, but they packed more than just a punch. And when she added her shotgun blasts to it, there was very little chance one could not feel that the next day. Then came her semblance. Taking hits before using them to make her punches hit harder was just cheating, not that she couldn't relate what with her status as 'invincible' coming from her own semblance.

Yang laughed a little at her fellow blond, to think he changed his fighting style to give her a better challenge. Using his shield in his right hand meant that he would be able to take at least a few of her punches and the way he bounced meant he could at least have momentum on his side if he decided to dodge. The choice to use a weapon that would whittle her aura down slowly rather than give her more kinetic force to hit back with was a nice touch. "I have to hand it to ya' Vomit Boy. You really thought this one through." Jaune returned her grin, that wasn't the end of it.

The brawler rolled under a few test rounds from the now ranged knight. She would have to be careful with her aura levels whilst ending the battle quickly, a war of attrition would only end in his favour. Taking a few steps forward she launched a couple of blasts at his face, smirking as he obscured his vision with his shield. Using the smoke as cover she got close, aiming to end the fight by knocking out his shield. To the surprise of the audience however, he managed to manoeuvre around her punch and unload a few rounds into her side. Wincing she swung once more, managing to land a clean hit to the top of his shield. Taking advantage of the momentum given by the punch, the knight rolled backwards and away from the brawler. Yang frowned, too far away and Jaune would have advantage but she just couldn't get past that shield. When Sun had gone and unleashed his inner rage on it Jaune was still able to hold his own, even if by just. Sure her gauntlets could do more damage in a concentrated spot, but she couldn't afford to be too reckless and waste her aura. She grinned, it was almost as if he could read her mind when she tried a smokescreen tactic. Now this was a challenge.

Jaune's confident expression faltered momentarily as his opponent began her charge. He hadn't expected her to go all in. Hiding a girly yelp he blocked the first punch before calming himself back into what he liked to dub battle mode. _Duck under next punch before opening space with shield. Failsafe, use gun. If successful proceed to step eight._ He chanted in his head. The crowd watched as he dropped under Yang's follow up punch and attempted to shield bash her only for the girl to jump backwards out of his reach. With a smirk he unloaded his clip fully on the girl, whittling down her aura. _Just a bit longer and she'll be low enough to attack directly._

The busty boxer dashed in once more, this time a little more wary than she was beforehand. In the sanctioned match he had with Sun, Jaune hadn't been able to reload due to having his hands full. But now he knew how to do what Ruby had called a 'one handed reload'. Waiting until the last moment she ran directly at his front before sidestepping to her right. The male student avoided the straight jab before attempting to hit her with the shield once more. Yang nodded mentally to herself, he hadn't managed to reload yet. The crowd watched the girl knock his shield around, still unable to get past his defence. To their surprise the blond knight aimed the bottom of his gun at her and sent the empty magazine towards her. Reacting quickly, the blonde boxer swat the magazine before it hit her, making sure not to take her eyes off of the knight.

The second her gauntlet and the magazine collided a small explosion of smoke shocked the students watching, Goodwitch included. With the precious time he managed to buy Jaune slammed the empty slot in his gun into his ammo belt. Shield bashing the brawler once more for good measure he then unloaded his clip into her again. Or at least he attempted to, instead getting several empty clicks in response. If he wasn't currently in a dangerous situation, he would've slapped himself for his stupidity. He quickly reloaded, hoping his opponent would be stunned for a little longer. The blond student panicked as a fist flew by his head. With a yell he swung his gun down onto the girl's head and hurriedly pushed her away. The male combatant paused after finally registering what he had done,

Jaune laughed nervously at the now kinetically charged Yang as she slowly turned her head towards him. "I don't suppose you'll go easy on me?" With a laugh she shook her head. With a wide swing she was able to stagger him easily. Without giving him time to recover she uppercut his shield, sending both sword and shield of Crocea Mors skyward. With a grunt she nailed him in his now exposed chest, stomach and arm, forcing him to drop his gun while getting chain punched into the ground. The audience winced as she gave a last punch, taking his massive aura down to red. He would be feeling that later.

They cheered as the buzzer echoed through the arena. "Winner Yang Xiao Long." Spoke the deputy, not bothering to go into further detail. The students understood the different types of conditions to win. She turned to the two students, ignoring the fact that Crocea Mors fell back down onto its owner. The rest of the class winced. "Miss Xiao Long, you were too preoccupied with keeping your Aura levels up. After noticing your opponent aim for a war of attrition you kept your attacks to a minimum to avoid wasting energy and allowing him to overwhelm you with his Aura. However you didn't take into account that he _wanted_ you to keep to short bursts of attacks to avoid having to deal with a strong offensive. By the end you were able to use your semblance to finally power through due to a mistake on his part, but that will not happen next time." The blonde witch briefly paused to ensure the advice was registering in her student's head before continuing.

"One point I would like to bring up was your choice of switching up your fighting style. It was too analytical rather than your usual strategy of 'hit it until it's red' and gave your opponent an advantage. No offence Miss Xiao Long but he is much better in that field." The younger blond nodded at the teacher's advice. If there was something good about the strict second in charge, it would have to be her battle advice. It was always useful. Goodwitch turned to the other competitor.

"That brings me to my second point Mr Arc. Although I commend you for coming up with a plan to fight your opponent, and changing a fighting style to suit an opponent is fine _if you do it properly_. You made a critical error in that you got too caught up in the moment to reload properly, especially since you did it with your non-dominant hand. You panicked after faltering, which ended up giving them the advantage they needed to pull the win. You also seemed to have used too much aura when blocking, which caused it to go down a lot faster than it should have." Jaune winced, it wasn't the blocking that was using up his aura at a considerable rate. Keeping his semblance toggled was what was draining it. Jaune's attention turned back to the witch as she clapped twice sharply.

The students silenced their chattering of the previous fight upon hearing the clap, something that had been drilled into them over their stay at Beacon. "Alright class, next up is Miss Belladonna and Mr Vasilias." She stated as she ushered the two other blonds off of the stage. Jaune watched as she sighed in relief as her scroll buzzed, surprisingly glad to receive a message from the Headmaster for once. From what he had come to learn from his lessons with Goodwitch, messages from Ozpin tended to mean more paperwork for her. "Before you enter the arena I would like to introduce something new to you all now that Ozpin has finally given the okay." The woman gestured towards the stage he had been fighting on. "Thanks to the efforts of Professor Port, who believes the facilities in Pharos are much more beneficial for training, Ozpin added a new functionality over the break." The class watched in mixed awe and confusion as the stage began to shift into a beach setting, complete with umbrellas. "With the generous help of both Pharos and Atlas the stage can now shift to a more suitable setting to allow for more adaptable fighting styles to make use of the environment."

Sun grinned at his teammate, elbowing him teasingly. "Good luck." He snickered. The blue haired boy stood stock-still, eyes staring unblinkingly at the movements of the waves and completely ignoring the jab. The blond thief turned to his fellow Faunus, hoping to draw a better reaction. "You've got an easy win Blake, Nep is afraid of water." No response. "Blake?" Sun held back a sigh. The black haired girl stock-still, amber eyes staring unblinkingly at the movements of the waves. _Well this is going to be a battle and a half_. He looked around for his fellow blond friend, "What do you think Jau-?" Sun paused, noticing a distinct lack of the boy in question. The monkey Faunus frowned, had he even sat down before he left? He looked over to his right, "Where'd he go Yang?" The busty blonde bolted upright from her relaxed position. "You alright?"

The female student grinned, "I'll go look for him, I'm done with my match after all and he owes me something." Sun watched her walk out with a worried smile. Well that didn't sound good for Jaune.

* * *

Jaune frowned. His body still ached as he paced along the roof. Lately the roof and library had become a place of solace for him. Somewhere he could go to think with some peace and quiet. Unfortunately they each came with their own catch. On the roof his thoughts were privy to both Cardin and Pyrrha due to their knowledge of the location and his unfortunate habit of saying his thoughts aloud when pacing. Should they enter at the wrong time he could let out some troublesome information.

In the library however, he had to deal with not only other students but the meddlings of Yang and Amethyst, which had the unfortunate side effect of not giving him the respite he went there for in the first place. Fortunately Blake or Weiss were there to keep their blond teammate in check on occasion, but sometimes even they couldn't  
control the party girl. It was like having to deal with Nora in a world where Ren didn't have the ability to make admittedly amazing pancakes. Team JNPR would only be able to control her outbursts to an extent before it broke loose and destroyed the school. At any rate the roof was still plenty times better than the library on the account of privacy. He wouldn't have to worry about his thoughts being interrupted up here.

A curse flew from his mouth as his scroll began to ring- or do that weird beeping thing it would do before it would properly ring. It was the middle of school time, who would ring now? Picking up the device he frowned once the grinning face of his sister popped onto the screen. Jaune placed the scroll against his ear. "What are you doing calling me right now? You're lucky I wasn't in the middle of class or people would've found out that Nora set my ringtone to Weiss singing- I mean Goodwitch would've killed me. You better have a good reason… for… calling." He trailed off slowly. Was that crying from the other end of the line?

"I'm sorry that I was worried about my only son and wanted to tell him some important information." Jaune paled a shade of Weiss, suddenly realising who the owner of the voice was. This would not be ending well for him.

"M-Mom? Why are you using-?"

The young looking woman cut him off mid-sentence. "What's wrong my lovely, caring son that said such hurtful words to me? You're not going to give me a sorry excuse like you didn't realise I was calling you from your sister's scroll are you?" He flinched at the hurt yet underlying venomous tone she took.

"I-I-"

"Mommy is sad that the son that she painstakingly took care of for all these years whilst balancing seven other female siblings was left on his own at such a scary place." Jaune began to sweat as memories of the various punishments he hadn't faced since arriving at Beacon leaked back from the reinforced corner of his mind that he pushed them to. Glynda paled in comparison. "Mommy decided to call to check if you were okay before she arrived only to hear that very same son scream hurtful words at Mommy." _Not the dress._ He whimpered in his mind as he fell onto his behind. "Mommy is very, _very_ upset son."

"Please don't kill me!" He cried, repeatedly bowing despite the fact that the short, young-looking, blond woman wasn't able to see the action. A chill made its way through his body as his mother began to laugh hauntingly. It was the sort of chime you'd hear children sing. During a horror film that is.

"Why would Mommy kill the only son she ever had? The son she spent many months suffering to give birth to? Mommy will instead have to resort to other ways of punishment so that the lovely, understanding and _smart_ son will learn his place again." Jaune would've fainted on the spot if not for her next words. "By the way, Violet and Misty will be arriving earlier than everyone else. We'll _chat_again later when I get to Beacon. Until then, toodles~" It was a good thing he was already on the floor or he would've collapsed in relief once the glorious tone that signified the end of a call sang in his ears.

Why was it women were always the bane of his existence? It couldn't have something to do with his roguishly good charms nor the helpful advice from his father that had yet to get him killed. Maybe there was some sort of third party forcing his interactions with the opposite gender to fail. There was his initial failed introduction with Ruby, his inability to woo Weiss, running into Deathstalkers with Pyrrha, Nora in general, accidentally realising Blake was trying to _hide _her Faunus nature, that one woman he got beat up by at the docks, Coco trying her damnedest to embarrass him whenever she saw the opportunity, that one girl that tried to rob Tukson, that one woman that is _still_ blackmailing him, all of his sisters and his mother, any time Neo was mad, that one time his dad brought a girl he once knew to his birthday, and every single interaction with Yang to date. It was a long list, especially if you decided to actually go into detail about each event.

"What's up Vomit Boy? Not interrupting a monologue am I?" Jaune sighed, speak of the Yang and she shall appear it seemed. Before he could make any effort to acknowledge her appearance his arm was brought into a lock. More specifically, she was gripping his wrist _very_ tightly. "Doesn't matter, you're coming with me!" The blond writer's mouth fell agape, was he being kidnapped? Trying to struggle out of the girl's clutches it wasn't long before his only choice was to resign to his doom. Curse Yang and her absurdly strong grip strength. And her ability to bounce back so quickly after their spar.

"Yang what are you-? Where are you taking me?" He cried as the two students made their way to the door. It was still class time after all. "Shouldn't we be heading back to class?" He continued hopefully. The girl shook her head, wide smile imposing fear into the poor knight's heart.

"Nope. You and I are going on that date you promised me." Jaune gave her an incredulous look. _In the middle of a school day?_ They still had one more period after sparring class and dust knew his family would be arriving at Beacon any day now. What would he do if they got here while he was out gallivanting in Vale? "And I'm not taking no for an answer Vomit Boy." The blond knight, suddenly deciding to grow a pair, dug his feet into the ground. Something that regrettably did not do much to stop them considering it was solid concrete. Despite that, Yang was thrown back enough by the action to come to a skidding halt.

"Actually Yang I have something important that may or may not come later today that I need to make sure I do not miss. The consequences would be disastrous." Thankfully it was the saner of the Arc siblings that were coming as the flag bearers. "Maybe later?" He needed to think of a battle plan. A sure fire strategy to make sure that whoever arrives early won't get into trouble or run into Nora. Hopefully he would be able to run into them before anyone else did.

Yang gave him a curious look, "What did you say? I can't hear you over that whistling." Jaune frowned, she wasn't wrong. He poked around his ear in confusion, what _was_ that noise? The two blonds looked over the edge of the rooftop, a feeling of unease accompanying the noise. Jaune turned his attention upwards. If anything, it sounded like something was falling. "Is that a boomerang?"

The boy froze, _it was back_. Unfortunately standing still was the worst possible course of action for him to choose as he was belted on the head by the high-tech throwing weapon. He fell back, head landing on what he assumed was diamond from how hard it was. Who would've thought the boomerang Pyr had let him try out would come back to haunt him? As the knight's vision faded he could faintly make out the sight of the boomerang flying vertically up before launching itself off the roof without any human assistance.

It was then that he realised the biggest mistake he had ever made was throwing a specially made weaponized boomerang, and not expecting it to come back to bite him in the ass- or in this case whack him on the head.

* * *

Yang hefted the young author onto her shoulders as she made her way toward the Beacon docks. It was hard to tell if he said yes or no to their date considering he had passed out before giving a concise answer, but she was going to take it as a yes anyway. After all, what possible reason could he have to say no to her? Granted he had denied _Weiss_ of all people before. Yang frowned, shaking the thought off. This was just going to be a friendly outing between her and one of the multiple objects of her teasing. The others being the rest of her team.

Something Yang had come to notice lately was that other than his motion sickness, liking of Jane Caur books and strangely dangerous allergy to sap, she barely knew anything about the blond knight or his team. With Team JNPR becoming close friends with her own team it only felt right to get to know them better. What better place to start than the leader? Then she could move onto Pyrrha and lastly Ren. She already knew most of the things about Nora because that girl was more than just an open book. If she wanted to be your friend she would shove information about herself down your throat whether you liked it or not. Mostly through her weird dreams that she liked to talk about during lunch. _But I digress_.

The real reason for the outing was because she felt bad for leaving Jaune out of their strategy meeting the other day. It was his joint idea with her and Blake and yet they decided to leave JNPR out of their search. Worst of all they thought it would be good to bring in two people that had almost nothing to do with the decision made between the three. She sighed as she passed by the class, the next lesson having started already. The buxom blonde paused, sparing a glance at a certain Valkyrie before she moved on. To think he missed out just because he tackled Nora out the window for whatever reason…

* * *

_-Flashback-_

"Are you sure about this?" Queried Yang. Blake nodded, her eyes darting back and forth from Yang's own to the window as if Jaune would come crawling back.

"I don't feel right bringing him or his team into this." She held up a hand seeing, knowing her partner was about to interject, "Don't get me wrong. I'm thankful for the two of you talking to me, but I'd rather not get them into more trouble with the school. Ozpin's no doubt already keeping an eye on both him, Sun and I." After that… talk with Ozpin, she had no doubts he was going to be keeping tabs on her. How special she felt, having the Headmaster watch her every move.

"And I do hope you're at least going to bring your whole team into 'this'." The two girls jumped on the spot, not expecting the other half of RWBY to enter the room without notice. Ruby and Weiss stood at the door, arms crossed. Having been unable to change after the whole exploding cake fiasco the two still had somewhat singed clothing. "Don't think we forgot about your little phase back at Pharos." Blake winced as the heiress spoke the regrettable truth. The smaller girl walked up to them, hands on hips. "You were moodier and less inclined to talk than usual and I will not stand for that. So if you want to make it up to us, bring the whole team into your mess this time."

"Aww Weiss Queen, I knew you cared~" Sang Yang as she brought the reluctant student into a hug. "But don't worry, me and Blake have got a plan that included both you and my sister."

Weiss coughed, "Blake and I." Ignoring the glare from the blonde girl she turned to Ruby, "It's better than the usual I guess." The red and black haired leader laughed nervously, she made plans too… sort of. "So what is this plan of yours?"

Blake pulled out a whiteboard from their extra room. _We had a whiteboard?_ "Our plan is to learn more about Torchwick and his connection to the White Fang. So Yang was going to go see if her friend has any information and I was going to attend the White Fang faction meeting in Vale." She pointed to the bottom right of the board. "If you and Ruby were willing, we wanted you two to visit the CCT to check the Schnee records. If Torchwick and the White Fang have stolen any more dust and it wasn't released to the public, we need to know." The White haired girl raised a brow,

"To be honest I was suspecting something along the lines of our usual plan, run in alone and hope nothing bad happens." Once again Blake winced at the not so subtle jab. Everything worked out in the end, she didn't need to keep mentioning it. "This is much better."

"Sounds fun. So who's this 'Torchwick' guy? Was he the one at the docks." The four girls jumped on the spot, not expecting anyone to be outside the window of all places. Blake's breath hitched upon seeing yellow, but it subsided upon realising it was a different blond male. It then dawned on her that it was the blond male that was _friends_ with the other blond male.

"Sun, what are you doing outside our room!" Growled Weiss, her small frame shaking in annoyance. "And how did you even get up there?"

The monkey Faunus scoffed, "This? It was easy, I do it all the time with Jaune and Neptune." The annoyance quickly turned into anger, as per the usual with the heiress.

"You two dolts do what?"

Sun grinned proudly, sticking a thumb to his visible chest. "We climb trees all the time. Or at least Neptune and I do. Jaune used to. Now that I think about it, I wonder if Jaune can still do it." Yang stifled a chuckle at the heiress' expression. "So are we going to go now or is later a better time?"

Blake frowned at the boy, "Sun, _we_ are going as a team." Ruby nodded, continuing to help drive home the message.

"We don't want to get anyone else involved-" The blond Faunus scoffed, the message went right over his head.

"That's dumb. You should always get your friends involved in any insane scheming you do. That's why I brought Neptune." True to his word the blue haired 'intellectual' stood to the right of the window. Outside. Clinging for dear life. On the ledge of a multi-level building.

"Don't ask how I got here, because I have no clue." The girls of RWBY shared a confused look as Sun helped his friend in. "You aren't going to shoot me with paintballs again now are you?" It was clear to the five students that he was still a little iffy about the current relationship between himself and the friends of his friend. Not that he could be blamed, it _was_ hard to trust people that mercilessly shot you with paintballs.

Deciding that ignoring was the best course of action once again, Blake turned her attention back to her fellow Faunus. "If we don't want to get Jaune's team involved despite the fact that they are practically a sister team to us, why would we want you guys to be involved?" Sun laughed the rhetorical question off as if it was a no-brainer.

"Because unlike Jaune we won't destroy half of Vale on accident, and unlike Nora we won't destroy half of Vale on purpose." Blake could feel Yang's struggle not to say that he had a point emanating off of her from the opposite side of the room.

"Look Sun, I don't want to get anyone else involved if I don't have to." Sun cocked his head,

"Is this because of what happened at the docks? Because Jaune and I have already forgiven you for being selfish and close minded. It was our choice to follow you, and I nearly got killed for it while Jaune nearly got…" He paused seeing that his reassurance wasn't exactly helping his case. Was she hyperventilating? "Long story short, what happened at the docks wasn't your completely your fault. In fact, I'll go get Jaune right now. He'll be able to vouch for me." Jaune was always good with words after all.

Ruby shook her head. "That won't be necessary." She laughed nervously as Yang began to rub the cat girl's back soothingly. "I think Blake's had enough for today. We'll think about bringing you two along okay? For now, uh, don't tell Jaune?" She turned to Weiss for help.

The heiress sighed. "Basically what Ruby is trying to say is we'll discuss the matter of you joining us later. Just make sure you don't let anyone else know about this. Now get out of our dorm room!" Taking the hint, Neptune jumped out of the window without another word, half afraid that she would pull out a paintball gun. Sun on the other hand just walked out the door on a surprisingly normal decision on his part. The edges of Weiss' mouth tipped downwards as she pondered on that thought, perhaps she was spending too much time with Ruby if someone taking the door out of a room was becoming a surprise whilst jumping out the window was commonplace. Just the other week the red haired dunce had flopped all over her study table like a fish out of water simply because she was bored.

_-End Flashback-_

* * *

Yang's pace fell to an abrupt halt as her path was blocked by two young looking girls that stood at least half a head shorter than her. She stared at the two in confusion. They looked oddly familiar. "Are you two children lost?" She queried, her tone falling into the once she talked to Ruby with. "Older sister Yang can help you around if you're lost." The shorter of the two girls by another half a head sighed, pushing her glasses downwards as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in irritation.

"Dear dust you had to go and call her a child." She groaned. Yang frowned, lilac eyes moving to the other girl. The 'younger' blonde's hands tightened as she stared at 'Older sister Yang', eyes conveying sheer wrath.

"Child? I'm twenty-two! I'll show you a child!" She growled. The busty blonde watched as the girl the size of her sister tried to punch her to no avail. A civilian didn't stand much chance against a huntress in training after all. It was still a chore to hold back a civilian whilst carrying Jaune on her shoulder however. "Quit holding me back by the head!" She cried, trying to swat her hand away from the top of her skull. Yang sighed,

"I don't know who let kids your age onto Beacon, but clearly I need to bring you to Glynda." The 'younger' girl poked her tongue out at the student. The one with glasses, and seemingly the more mature out of the two, held out an arm to stop what Yang assumed was her sister from the likeness of the two.

"I'm sorry, Miss Yang was it? My sister just hates it when people call her a child. She really is twenty-two though." Yang raised a brow in disbelief. Her? Twenty two? She looked about as old as Ruby, if that. "It's just genetics I guess. She got it from our mother, and _she_ looks about as old as you."

"So what are you two doing at Beacon?" She queried, hoping for a better answer from the younger of the two sisters. The girl pushed up her glasses as she spoke,

"I think a better question is why are you carrying that seemingly dead body?" She returned. "Are you taking it to an airship so you can bury it outside of Vale?"

Yang laughed the question off, "'Course not. You've been reading too many mystery novels." She rubbed the younger girl's head affectionately. "This here is my…" She paused, children don't like the idea of love right? "Boyfriend." She finished. "I was just bringing his lazy behind to the ship for our date." The glasses girl smirked,

"That's strange, brother never said anything about having a girlfriend. Did he tell you anything Violet?" The older of the two sisters, Violet apparently, shook her head. As if on cue, the blond boy on her shoulder woke up.

He yawned, an arm moving in an attempt to stifle it. "Oh hey Misty, Violet. Is breakfast ready? I'm famished. Are Azure and Light waking up Opal?" He stopped rubbing his eyes and winced, a pain that could only be described as a rock hitting his head shook his body. "Did I sleep on my writing utensils agai- Yang? Are you carrying me?" He stared her in the eyes, completely dumbfounded by the situation. The blonde student blinked before dropping him unceremoniously to the floor of the docks.

"No?" She wasn't lying...

"Jaune are you alright?" Asked Violet, rubbing the back of his head softly. "Is this girl really your girlfriend?" The young knight stared at her, even more confused than he already was. The three blond females stared back once he began to laugh.

"Yang? My girlfriend?" The blonde boxer couldn't help but feel a little hurt at his not so casual dismissal of the idea. The least he could've done was go along with it. That way they could've gotten to the club faster. With the help of Bumblebee she would've been having a Strawberry Sunrise with a side of fidgety Jaune by now. "Please, can't you tell she's out of my league? 'Couldn't even hold a candle towards her."

The girl Jaune addressed as Misty nodded affirmatively, assessing her with a calculating smile. "She does seem like she's better than you. Attractive, fit, could probably take out a Grimm with one hand tied behind her back." The blond boy deadpanned at the newcomer.

"Y'know, agreeing so easily like that hurts…" Yang stood in silence as the two exchanged banter, with the third jumping in every now and again. She could feel the closeness between the three from the way they talked to each other.

"Does he know these two?" She wondered aloud as they moved onto another topic of conversation. The buxom brawler prided herself on her ability to read body language. It wasn't an advanced skill per se, but it was necessary if she wanted to get up close and personal with her opponents. Until now though, she had never realised how guarded the way Jaune stood around her. Back when they had fought earlier she was put off by the way Jaune held himself during the arena, he hadn't changed it from how he usually was at all. But now she knew why. He felt like he had to constantly have his guard up around her.

What had she done when they met that made him feel that way? At any rate, it didn't take a keen eye for body language to tell that he was the complete opposite around the two girls before them. It was almost as if he knew them on a personal level. Yang blinked, _Mother and sisters are coming, something important that may or may not come later…_ The girl known as Misty had called him brother as well, but she had just assumed that was because she had referred to herself as older sister Yang. _Is breakfast ready?_ Yang felt her own palm smack her head in an attempt to smite her stupidity.

"You two are his sisters!" She exclaimed, finally putting two and two together. That probably meant they wouldn't be having their date today then. Shame too, she was looking forward to seeing Jaune drunk. Sure it was still midday, but there's no better time than the present. Her mind snapped back to reality when the young looking older girl decided to introduce them.

"I apologise for my behaviour earlier. Any friend of Jaune's is a friend of mine. I'm Violet, Jaune's older sister by five years." She bowed. As she tilted over her blue skirt fluttered weakly in the breeze along with her hair. One of the downsides of being so high up a cliff by a large body of water was the strong winds that occurred surprisingly often. "Over here is Misty, she's Jaune's junior by four." The younger blonde curtsied politely despite wearing short jeans and a white top, casually avoiding her sister's hair whipping at her face with the wind.

Yang frowned, the one that reminded her of Blake with her calm, books demeanour was thirteen, and the one that was apparently older than she looked was twenty two… _She got it from our mother_. That was right, Jaune's mom looked like she could pass off as a Beacon student. "I'm Yang Xiao Long," She greeted once more. "But I'm sure Jaune's told you plenty about me." The two girls shared a look. Violet shifted closer to Jaune, positioning her body strategically between the two.

"So you're the dragon he talks about?" Queried Misty, pushing up her glasses. Yang stared Jaune dead in the eyes, genuinely curious. Why would he call her a dragon? "The one who you shouldn't wake or anger under any occasion?" _Oh._

The blond knight felt a lump form in his throat, "How about you stop talking now and we go see the Headmaster? I'm sure you're both tired after your long trip here." He kept a straight face as he hurried the two away from a possibly annoyed Yang. Hopefully she wouldn't take offence.

"But I'm curious about your other acquaintances that you've made here at Beacon." Piped up Misty, unfortunately still within earshot of Yang. "Like the Snow Angel that melted your heart, or the cute Rose and Cat you found."

Violet nodded, the writer within her stirring. "Yeah. What about the Lazy Lotus and the Crazy Destructive Sloth that wields a hammer made of lightning?" Jaune couldn't hear the two poke fun at his letter writing as he was currently yelling nonsense at the top of his lungs. "Don't forget the Sweet Rabbit, Lost Bird and the Hot Chocolate?"

"Still not listening!~" He sang.

"Mr. Arc!" Snapped a voice as they approached an entrance. "Your next period began ten minutes ago. It is fine to go off to study after your match is done, but to skip school?"

Violet raised a brow at her brother who laughed weakly in return. "In my defence, I woke up on Yang's shoulder in the courtyard. I think she was trying to abduct me." He looked away from the deputy for a moment to find the girl. Where did Yang go? She was standing behind them with a perplexed look on her face a moment ago. _Did she just get extra revenge in for ditching them earlier?_ "Misty and Violet will vouch for me, right?"

Glynda turned her attention to the nodding blonde girls. "We have no idea what he's talking about. You shouldn't lie to your elders Jaune just because you want to go out to Vale with us." Jaune's jaw dropped, though mostly out of disbelief that Violet just got away with calling Glynda an 'elder'.

Misty smiled, something Jaune _knew_ she got from Opal. It was the exact same smile she would do when she was going to blame something on him. "If you'll need us brother we'll be seeing the Headmaster now to arrange a room to stay in. Have fun with the Wicked Witch you write to us about!" The knight watched as the two walked off in search of Ozpin with a look of disbelief. _Those two have been spending too much time with Light and Lily…_ A loud crack from behind reminded him of the current problem.

"I'm sorry!" He cried, "No, wait, not the crop!"

* * *

All was quiet in the library, a rare occurrence while the sun was still high in the sky. However, the more troublesome of the usual customers were occupied by something else meaning the novel utopia was free reign. From 'The Man With Two Souls' to 'The Man With Two Souls 2', the Beacon library had almost any book you could think of. Unfortunately, despite the extensive range of books one kept eluding the grasp of one Blake Belladonna.

In all her years of searching she could not find it no matter where she looked. Every time she would be close it would be ripped right from her hands. Tukson's book trade? Someone bought it from across the world just before she could see it. Vale library? Borrowed the day after she found it and never returned. Beacon library? Lost to the ages. Though more than likely hidden by Amethyst.

So why is it, that in spite of all the pain, sweat, blood, and tears that she'd spent looking for it, there stood a girl that looked no older than Ruby that was using it to reach a book on the higher shelves? A smaller blond girl sat on her shoulders as they tried to reach the book that looked like it could crush the two under its weight. "Can you reach it Misty?" Asked the girl, balancing upon the book precariously. "The Encyclopedia of Grimm." Her mouth seemed to water as she said the name, "Do you know how much research I could get from this? Think about it Misty, stories by none other than the Grimm Sisters? It's practically calling for me!"

The younger girl sighed, "And you wonder why brother goes to extremes for his research." Shaking her head, she continued reaching for the book. "Now hold still, I've nearly got it. Why did we refrain from using our common sense and grabbing a ladder?" The woman under her huffed,

"And where's the adventure in that? No treasure trove came easily that wasn't a trap. Using a ladder would surely bring about our demise."

"And me sitting on your shoulders while you balance on a book won't?" She really hoped Violet wouldn't answer that question. Even a mere shrug would send them toppling to the floor. She reached forward once more, dancing the book on the tips of her fingers as she attempted to bring it closer. It went against every nerve in her brain to use such a crude, childish method to reach the book when there was a ladder sitting just to the right of them. However, not obeying her sister went against the feeling in her heart. She may be more attuned to the world of knowledge, but even intangible things like feelings had merit to them. She would help her 'older' sister because it felt like the right thing to do.

After all, she too was curious as to what the book held within.

A smirk rose to her face as her small hands finally managed to latch onto the book. Mission accomplished. All she needed to do was get down and they wouldn't need to get crushed by it. "I got it!" Misty sighed in relief once she managed to successfully lower it off of its shelf and into her arms. The sheer size of it made it hard to carry, a testament to its weight and bulkiness. She held the massive book before her, blowing off the surprising amount of dust.

Blake watched in mute horror as the two girls blew up. A small part of her wished she had recorded the occurrence, because she would need a frame-by-frame to understand just what on Remnant happened. One moment they had been standing there, the top girl having managed to successfully obtain the book they were aiming for. Suddenly, the two were enveloped in a cloud of smoke and fire.

If the scrambling behind her was of any clue Amethyst had heard the commotion as well. "Oh dear," She mumbled to no one in particular. The voice was so quiet no one else would have heard it. That is, so long as they weren't a Faunus. "I knew I missed somewhere."

Blake turned around to face the librarian, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?" The woman flushed, not expecting to have been heard. Amber eyes narrowed further as Amethyst consistently failed to keep eye contact.

"W-well, you see. On some days… when no one's around. I like to, uh, practice?" _Practice?_

"Don't those girls need help?" Asked a voice from the side, interrupting the interrogation.

The cat Faunus' eyes widened. She had been too caught up in the strangeness of the situation she forgot about the matter at hand. Two seemingly civilian girls just blew up. The black haired student frowned internally as she hurried towards the two. The smoke dissipated slowly, revealing the two lying on the floor dazed. Other than singed clothes and possibly a bruise from the book that landed on one of the girls' heads, they were uninjured for the most part.

Three questions popped into existence the moment she got a better look at the girls. Why was she beginning to feel as if weird things were a common, everyday occurrence? Why did they manage to come out of a small explosion unharmed despite being civilians? And why did they look familiar?

"Are you alright?" She queried, arms outstretched to help them up. The older girl was out cold, no doubt taking the brunt of the fall. An Encyclopedia to the head did not help either. Upon further inspection her blouse and skirt did not appear to be affected too badly by the explosion. Her blonde hair however was slightly burnt, having been directly under the reaction.

On the topic of direct exposure, the seemingly younger of the two was already upright. Not much physical force had hit her directly, but she was covered in soot. The girl's short jeans was the only piece of clothing that managed to not get too much dust on it thanks to its position during the explosion. The expression of the blond girl as she blew her short hair away from her face and cleaned her glasses was priceless. Had she been anyone else she would've laughed at the scene taken out of a cartoon. The two met eyes as the girl finally regained the sense to answer, casually pushing her glasses back into place.

"What happened?" The question seemed directed more towards the universe itself than anything else, but Amethyst still answered from behind them. Blake couldn't help but notice the sheepish way she would look at everything except for the person she was talking to,

The purple haired woman took a deep breath, taking the time to center herself before speaking. "That was my fault." She apologised, bowing to the victim. "A while back I was practicing using fire dust and some of it got lost after I, er, tripped." It took Blake a moment to register what Amethyst had just said. _Why was she using _fire_ dust in a library?_ The very act and location flabbergasted the young Faunus, and she was partners with _Yang_. Weird things were apparently supposed to be normal. She didn't even flinch when two girls blew up. "At least the book you were trying to get was unharmed… for the most part."

Blake furrowed her brow in thought, did that mean Amethyst was watching the two struggle too? And didn't help them? To be fair, neither did she but she was preoccupied with her thoughts at the time. "Not to be rude but, who are you two?" She queried. The two were obviously not wearing a uniform and they looked too young to be students of Vacuo.

"We're just here to see our brother." Stated the younger looking girl, fixing the position of her blue glasses as she spoke. "Through no fault of our own he may have been put into detention so we decided to kill time in the library before going to see Ozpin." Blake had enough experiences with Yang and Ruby to know it was more than likely the fault of the two strangers in front of her for their brother getting into detention.

Amethyst spoke up, clearly trying to change the subject. "So who is your brother?"

"I leave you two alone for an hour and you've already blown up." Cried an exasperated voice, "No thanks to you two, I have to explain to Goodwitch later why I had to run away." Blake's bow perked up from the familiarity of the sound. Blonde hair, has a brother, one of them is younger than she looks, Jaune's family would be arriving at Beacon. She sighed, finally putting the pieces of the figurative puzzle together.

Jaune glared at the only currently awake sister. "You two are supposed to be the mature ones." He spared a glance at the unconscious girl lying under a book, "At the very least a step up from the others." Pulling out a rag he wiped the girl's face, paying no mind to the absurdly large book he threw to the side. The Faunus took note of the underlying worry in his tone, but whether it was worry over the wellbeing of the two girls or his own was questionable.

Time stopped for the briefest of moments as something caught her eye. A book, just to the right of the commotion. Namely the one they had been using as a rudimentary stool. She crept towards it slowly, making sure not to call attention upon herself. It was just one book right? It's not like they would miss it, after all they had just stood on it. She swiped the hardcover book when she was sure no one was looking. She trailed her hand over the letters of the title, feeling a light tingle run down her spine. Feeling a jolt of bravery she ran her fingers over the edges of the cover, ready to pry it open. She was just going to check to make sure it hadn't been damaged in the explosion…

Blake's eyes widened, the pages of the book almost glowing. It was _signed_. How did they get a signed copy? Why were they using it as a stool instead of the ladder? The black haired student froze stiff as her ears picked up the conversation between the Arc siblings. "Violet I lost your book." Stated Misty, eyes scanning the floor for the green novel.

Jaune gave her a look, "Why do you sound proud about that?"

The other girl, now seemingly awake, waved it off. "I'll just get you another one." _Another one? How?_ The male Arc bopped the 'older' sibling on the head with his hand, prompting the blonde to cover it in apparent pain.

"Don't encourage her. She needs to learn to rectify her mistakes." He crossed his arms in a condescending manner. "Now find that book while I berate our older sister." Blake took that as her cue to leave. She could just return it later, when she was done with it. Maybe claim that the explosion blew it out the window.

"Where are you going?" Asked Amethyst, just before she could get away.

"Uh, I just remembered I have to go do something with the team." She answered vaguely. "Bye!" Acting as casual as she could she walked out.

* * *

Jaune span in front of his room, stopping once he faced his sisters. "Now unfortunately, Ozpin wasn't expecting you two so soon. As a result, you'll be staying with us until they can sort out a room for everyone." It probably didn't help the Headmaster that his mother had been so vague about the date of arrival. Getting a disposable room was hard to do after all… at least, it better be disposable what with there being several Arcs in one area. The girls shared a look,

The knight watched the two converse silently, a pregnant pause passed before they responded. "Can we not?" They spoke in sync, each raising a hand in objection. "I don't trust you with sleeping in the same room." Jaune's eye twitched,

He gave them an irritated look, they had become unruly since the last time he saw them. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"One who writes smut about people he knows." Piped up Misty, hand still raised.

"One who looks into the hearts of people for personal gain." Added Violet, hand still raised.

Jaune flinched, was that really what they thought of him? His gaze dropped to the floor in contemplation. He shook his head, "That's not true… anymore that is." They weren't entirely wrong, he'd give them that. But thanks to a few things he'd learnt at Beacon, and extended time with Neo and Roman, research wasn't a good enough reason to look into other people's minds and nor was it going to rule him. "At any rate there isn't another place for you to stay." The two blondes shared another look, something Jaune felt he had to stop before they got more hive minded.

"What about that other team?" Jaune gave Violet a look. She was going to have to be a _little_ more specific than 'other team'. There were dozens of teams at Beacon, possibly hundreds now that the Vytal Festival was rearing it's head. He would've made her aware of this fact too if she hadn't of caught his look and elaborated. "The team with the Rose, Angel, Cat and Dragon." His eye involuntarily twitched. Now she was being _too_ specific.

"What about them?" He questioned back by habit, too preoccupied with rubbing away the oncoming migraine. _Were they always like this?_ He paused. Violet was normally quiet, mature, caring and had the vibe of an older sister about her despite appearances. Misty was of a similar nature in that she was quiet, booky and mature for her age... at least more mature than Azure. Had they really changed so much in the time he'd been gone?

Misty pointed at the room across the hall, a particular shine to her glasses going unnoticed by the blond male. "We _could_ stay there for the night." Jaune frowned,

"At the risk of you two revealing embarrassing things about me?" There was no way he was going to allow it.

The three Arcs fled to the door in shock as Team RWBY's dorm opened, a boisterous laugh following it. "Did someone say staying here for the night to reveal embarrassing secrets?" Cried Yang as she stepped out, the rest of her team following suit sans Blake.

The blond student narrowed his eyes at the four in an attempt to hide his fear, "How much of that did you hear?" The boxer shrugged, not helping his anxiety one bit. "Anyway, Ozpin said that they need to stay with me. So that's that." He sighed as the speakers crackled to life.

"Mr Arc, about the lodgings of your two sisters for the night, if you do not wish to be bothered by them they can stay at the RWBY dorm for the night." Stated the voice of Ozpin through the system.

"You can't be serious." That had to have been on purpose.

"Oh I am serious." Spoke the Headmaster as he rounded the corner, Glynda walking behind him as if to make sure he didn't somehow destroy the school.

The five students stated wide eyed at the man. "How did you…?" Trailed off Ruby. Misty and Violet couldn't help but exchange confused glances, having no clue as to what was transpiring before them. Ozpin seemed to shrug off the implied question.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Miss Rose." He took a sip from his mug to fill in a pause. "Now, you two." He gestured to the Arc siblings. "Can stay in the RWBY dorm, but any destroyed property will have to be on your heads."

"-But how did you know we were talking about where they were going to stay?" Questioned Ruby, still not satisfied. Ozpin gave a cryptic smile at the younger girl.

"I'm the headmaster Miss Rose. And a headmaster is always proper, and always knows what's going on in their school." He stated coolly, "Now if you excuse me, I have some paperwork to do." Jaune pretended not to see Glynda's crop pressed against the older man's back.

He scoffed when he was sure the two were out of earshot. Proper his behind, the entire school had seen what happened when Goodwitch had kept Ozpin's coffee hostage back at the initiation ceremony. "That settles it." Cheered Yang. She turned to the two Arc females. "Looks like you two get a first hand look at what it's like with Team RWBY!" The blondes raised their fists in triumph as they marched into the room, leaving a displeased Jaune and a confused remainder of RWBY. If there was even _some_ semblance of the personalities he remembered, the night could go one of two ways for Team RWBY. They could either learn every embarrassing detail of his past thanks to Misty and Violet's near perfect memory, or-

A stack of paper interrupted his thoughts by attempting to tackle his chest, winding him slightly by the sheer force put behind it. Fortunately it also alerted him enough to catch the papers before they hit the floor. Jaune looked up from the scrawled notes to the red and white members of RWBY. The heiress cleared her throat, keeping her head tilted upward as she began to speak. "Ruby decided that to show the goodwill between our teams, she would keep you updated in what you missed in Oobleck's class today."

"That's awfully nice of you Rubes, thanks." Interjected Jaune, sending a smile the reaper's way. Weiss flinched noticeably.

"W-well, since Ruby's note taking skill are… questionable at best." She spared a glance at her leader, earning a sheepish smile from the red and black haired girl. "I took it upon myself to help her with the notes." Jaune grinned, a look Weiss no doubt caught. "Don't give me that look Arc. I merely did this to help a friend."

The two leaders shared a smirk, "We knew you cared Weiss-Queen." This proved to further fluster the White haired heiress as she huffed at their looks,

"I have no idea what you two are talking about." She snapped before making her way into the dorm room. The door slammed shut behind her, causing the two to wince at the force put behind it. Ruby chuckled mildly,

"Don't mind her. She's still new to the whole friends thing."

Although he wished to, Jaune refrained from mentioning that the year was already half over. That it was hard to believe it would take that long for someone to only begin getting accustomed to the idea of 'friendship'. His hesitance to speak his mind proved fruitful as the heiress burst out of Dorm RWBY not a moment later.

"Question, is there anything we need to know about your sisters' sleeping habits?" She briefly directed Jaune's attention to her partner with a glance. "Specifically talking in their sleep?"

He shook his head, as far as he knew Misty and Violet had _no_ trouble sleeping. Though that was a problem in itself. If he had to pinpoint the sibling with the most unfortunate sleeping habit it would be a tie between himself and Opal. While thankfully neither of them snored, Opal had the peculiar condition of sleepwalking _and_ talking nonsense. He however had something his parents deemed a sixth sense. Whenever something bad was about to happen he had what his family had annoyingly dubbed, 'The Waffle Dream'.

At some point, he had grown to dream of waffles whenever a problem were to occur. Opal about to pour water on his sleeping body? Waffle dream. Mom realising he and Opal had stolen snacks the night prior? Waffle dream. Nora about to wake him up with her hammer? Waffle dream.

Although Ren and Pyrrha doubted his capabilities Nora was behind him all the way, especially since the waffle dream had saved his skin a fair few times. The only time it failed him was on transport, but everyone chalked it up to him being unconscious rather than sleeping.

"Unless they've developed one while I've been gone, they have no trouble sleeping." Weiss nodded, he assumed she was pleased with his answer but one could never tell with the Ice Queen. For all Jaune knew, he was going to get a three thousand word essay on his inadequacies in the past week. "Well there are still a few hours until Goodwitch starts evicting students she sees out and about, you've got time to get earplugs in case something happens."

The heiress frowned, but ceded to his point. Preparations were, after all, what could make or break a war. And if the two new blonde women entering the RWBY dorm were anything like the current one and her sister, this would be war.

Jaune watched as the White haired student marched off in search of a noise deterrent before turning back to the Reaper that had been silent during the exchange. "You still with us Rubes?" He waved a hand in front of her face, earning a cute pout from the younger girl.

"Yes Jaune, I'm still very much aware of your sudden obliviousness to my existence." Ruby stuck her tongue out childishly, an expression that quickly turned into an ostentatious grin as the two began to share a laugh.

The knight winked at her, "Sorry Ruby, but priorities."

"Are you saying I'm not of high priority?" Ruby crossed her arms as she spoke, if anything it reminded him of Weiss. The two partners had begun to spend the better half of their free time together recently,

With the grace of a back flipping hippo, Jaune lost all semblances of professionalism when the Rose suddenly closed the distance between them. "You watch Jaune, I'll make your priority list one day!" The blond leader blinked,

"... And?"

Ruby grinned at him, "And then I'll make you feed me cookies!" And with that, she left him to his thoughts.

Jaune stared idly as the female leader entered her dorm, what had just happened? He shrugged, chalked it up to one of Ruby's plots for cookies, and turned back to his room. And realised something important. He slammed his head against the door, alerting the occupants. "Pyrrrhaaa," he cried, "I left my scroll inside… again."

* * *

Yang was excited. That was all she felt right now, simple excitement. It was that sort of childish feeling of elation you would get after opening a gift. The gift she was receiving? Blackmail material. The best kind. She rubbed her hands together, a crafty expression forming on her. She noticed the look of fear Weiss gave her out of the corner of her eye, but couldn't discern any possible reason as to why.

"Where's Blake?" Questioned her sister as she exited the bathroom, finished with her nightly duties. The blonde woman turned to the empty bed she was currently sitting on, 'where was she?' indeed. Last she'd seen of the black haired beauty, she said she would be in the library. The two newcomers shared a look,

"Is Blake a really beautiful black haired cat Faunus, around this tall, a pension for books, and looks like an introvert?" Yang stood shocked at the acute description of her partner. Misty smirked, pushing her glasses further up her nose in her usual know-it-all fashion, earning an eye roll from her sister.

"How did you know?" Queried the arguably level-headed one of the RWBY dorm room. The busty blonde turned to her white haired teammate. Weiss narrowed her eyes at the Arc female.

"I saw her at the library earlier today." She explained, "She ran out holding a book, saying something about having to go to her team."

Yang snickered, she was going to hold this over Blake like fresh tuna. "That doesn't explain why you knew she was a cat Faunus. She hides her ears under her bow." Snapped Weiss, the cold heiress frowned at the younger sibling. Yang had to give her that, how _did_ she know those were ears under the bow? From what she could see, Ruby had that usual look of childish curiosity as she sat next to her.

"That was a bow?" And just like that all conspiracy theories against the new girl flew out the window. Yang shot Weiss an amused look from the corner of her eye, something the girl hadn't missed. The Arc sisters shared a confused look, once again conferring with each other using what Yang assumed was a telekinesis all Arc siblings that weren't Jaune had.

A tap on her shoulder alerted her to the steady gaze of one Ruby Rose. Yang could feel the concentration emanate off of her sister as she used her silver eyes to bore into the soul of the buxom blonde before her. She snickered, rustling her hair affectionately. "I'll get you cookies later Rubes."

Yang faced her fellow blondes across the room, a wide grin occupying the majority of her face. "Now then, you two got any juicy tidbits about your brother's life? We'd all like to know." She just needed a little dirt on him to dangle in front of his face, then she could pounce.

The older of the two Arcs stared back in confusion, "Juicy tidbits? I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific."

Before she could get to clarify, the door opened to reveal the final member of Team RWBY. "Sorry I'm late, got caught up reading-" Blake froze, the number of occupants in the room was more than usual. Namely the ratio of yellow to any other colour in the room. Yang watched curiously as her partner hid something behind her back. "I just realised I have something to do, I'll see you in a bit!" And with that the door slammed shut.

"... Are we going to have to have another intervention?" Queried Ruby. Yang smiled warmly, if Blake was being _that_ obvious then it wasn't anything major. At any rate, now was the time for blackmail!

"Are you kidding me? On my bed?" The buxom blonde turned to her white haired teammate at the exclamation. Weiss' right eye twitched. Clearly she was displeased by something, but it wasn't Ruby's suggestion. Yang followed her line of sight and was indeed shocked and mildly irritated by what she found.

"How have they fallen asleep already?" She cried, there was still an hour before Goodwitch started making her rounds. The two were already huddled together under the white covers, fast asleep.

"On my bed!" Reiterated Weiss,

* * *

Jaune had been launched into a forest, fought a small army of Grimm, gone to Vale with a beautiful girl on multiple occasions, dressed _as_ a girl on two separate instances and even gone karaoke with his team, yet nothing could prepare him for the dread and anxiety he felt in anticipation for the arrival of his family the next day. He paced uncomfortably in his room, still around forty minutes until Glynda started patrolling the hallways. He could go for a nighttime stroll if he pleased.

The knight took a few steps towards the door, hand outstretched but still not within grasping range. Dare he go outside? What if his family arrived while he was gone? Or worse,

What if the boomerang came back?

He shivered uncontrollably. He hadn't felt true fear since his mother found out his older sisters, mainly Violet, got him to start incorporating smut into his writing. Though _all_ of his encounters with Goodwitch came fairly close.

He nearly jumped out of his skin once he felt a hand grip his shoulder. The warmth that came from the touch was what kept him from punching the owner of the hand out of reflex. "Are you okay Jaune?"

He smiled as he turned to face his partner, "I'm fine, just feeling a little anxious." He admitted. Pyrrha returned his smile with her own, her hand falling off his shoulder.

"Scared of your mom?" She joked. Jaune laughed nervously,

"Mostly just worried about what they're going to do here." He was in the dark in regards to what was going on. All he knew was that there would be family members arriving. How long would they be staying for? He didn't know. Why were they staying? Not even a semblance of an idea. What would they be doing during their visit? No clue. Why was Ozpin letting them stay? Well he at least knew that one, but he had to find that out from Professor Goodwitch rather than his family. "I haven't exactly been told anything."

"I find," started Pyrrha, catching his attention, "that when I'm feeling down or nervous about something I like to go look at the stars." He felt his breath hitch when the red haired champion turned to him, their eyes meeting. "Do you… want to go with me?"

Jaune smiled, a small hum escaping him. "I would like that." He needed to relax for once. After everything that's happened as of late, a light breather sounded nice.

* * *

**And there we have it. Hope you all enjoyed. I made a lot of edits whilst writing, and in the end separated the full chapter into two different chapters. That is why the rest of Jaune's family will be making an appearance in the next chapter rather than this one. The next chapter should be out **_**before**_** nearly 4 months pass this time (sorry about that again XD).**

**Here's an abridged view of what could've happened, had Yang managed to not walk into Jaune's siblings.**

* * *

Omake ~ A Date to Remember

Jaune flew into a fit of coughs, his body jumping into a sitting position. He could feel stomach convulsions climbing out of the deepest levels of the Grimm wild-lands, the jolting change in situation not helping calm it. His eyes widened, finally taking in his surroundings. He would gasp, but something was already coming out instead.  
Through the involuntary shaking and gagging only one thought crept through his mind, what was he doing on an airship? "Hey there sleepyhead~" cooed a voice. "Have a good nap? You seemed to like your pillow."

He daren't turn to inspect the owner of the voice lest the dam broke all over them. But there was no forgetting that voice. A certain blonde woman was accompanying him on the airship ride to the Remnant equivalent of hell. "Yang, what's going on?" The blond knight barely managed to accomplish that sentence without throwing up. Strangely enough, his urge to throw up was weaker than usual. Normally he wouldn't be able to hold it back for more than a dozen seconds upon noticing he was not moving of his own accord.

"We're going on a date silly." Jaune didn't exactly trust the matter-of-fact tone the busty student took. "You should've waited longer before waking up. It would have been easier on your stomach." He felt her elbow him several times in a joking manner. "Should I help you out with that? Don't want you vomiting all over the ship." Jaune rolled his eyes, finally turning to the girl sitting next to him. Unless she could knock him out again or had those sap pills Jay had given him, there wouldn't be anything she'd be able to do about it.

His vision went black.

* * *

When Jaune woke up next, his arms were bound and he felt like he was falling at an absurd rate. "Did you wake up again? You should probably wait a bit longer, we're nearly there." Jaune tried to move, but his whole body appeared to be bound around the waist and torso. "You shouldn't struggle Vomit Boy, you might fall off. Those binds are pretty loose." If he had the ability to turn around, he would have given her the harshest glare he could muster whilst about to throw up. If these were loose, he was a Beowolf. What were they made of, titanium? He sighed, assessing his surroundings to the best of his ability with his limited head movement.

Currently, he was tied to the back of Yang's motorcycle that she had lovingly dubbed Bumblebee. A name that was much better than the 'SS John Ark' she had called his boat. To avoid him falling off, she had laid him on his stomach and bound him using a rope. This however, had an unfortunate effect that accumulated from him riding backwards, facing down, with a constant pressure on his guts. "Yang, get me off of this death machine right this instant!" He cried to the maniacal woman. With each speed bump and sharp turn, he got closer to throwing up. Whatever miracle had kept him from losing his lunch so far clearly was not going to last forever.

"So help me Jaune, if you throw up on my ride I am turning this motorcycle around." And force him to suffer the return journey? Clearly she hadn't thought that threat through. "Just hold still, I'll help you." Jaune's eyes widened, his stomach gurgling in retaliation.

"Yang, you'd better not knock me out agai-"

His vision went black.

* * *

\- 'Bright lights, flashing colours, loud music, the pungent smell of booze permeating the air and mixing with the scent of sweat. This all hit him at once as his eyes flew open. Curiously enough, the sheer shock of waking up in an unknown place took precedence over the growing need to hurl. Sitting up, he was treated to the sight of dancers and a rather expensive looking room. Looking around he realised he was in a club, lying down in a booth off to the side of the dance floor.

"You're awake." Spoke a voice behind him. Upon turning his gaze to the owner of the voice Jaune was surprised to see Yang. She was wearing a simple white dress that went against what he would've expected of her usual style. In fact, he guessed it would've been something Weiss would wear. In spite of it, she looked good. "I see you've been enjoying my legs~" She teased.

Jaune blinked. Looking down, he managed to put two and two together. Yang had let him rest on her lap. The busty blonde grinned at his reaction, a light fire flickering in her eyes. "Don't worry, we'll get a better chance to work our legs on the dance floor. Come on Vomit Boy, let's see what your alcohol tolerance is."' -

"-Or something like that. I wasn't expecting you to bring me _here_ of all places." Finished Jaune. Yang gave him a light glare, but she didn't argue. It _did_ sound like something she would do. Instead, the two were sat at a fancy restaurant. She had heard it was hard to get a reservation, but it helped to have a few… connections.

"I'm hurt Vomit Boy. And to think I cracked the dress I was going to use for the school dance out early for you." She whined at him playfully, a smirk hidden under her betrayed expression. The young woman sat pleased at the boy's expression, a more sincere embarrassed flush danced around his cheeks. One of her favourite pastimes had to be teasing people. It was just too easy sometimes. "So what are you going to order?" She asked with a wink, "I'm still on the menu."

The knight before her sighed at her antics, the blush refusing to leave his cheeks. "I'll just have the burger." He answered casually. No doubt still feeling the effects of nearly vomiting and getting knocked out several times in quick succession. Yang tilted her head at the answer, but said nothing.

Picking up the menu she took a look at the myriad of expensive foods. True to his word there was a burger. "You must have a great sense of judgement if you can order something without looking at the menu." She mused. "It's almost as if you've been here before."

Jaune froze for a split second, but it was still enough for Yang to gauge his reaction. "I have no idea what you're talking about." His voice was shaky. Obviously the blond student hadn't expected the sudden accusation. "I just noticed that someone was having a burger in such a classy establishment on the way in. There must've been a reason right?" The newly avid reader smiled cryptically at the male,

"Here are your drinks, are you ready to order?" Spoke up a waiter. The poor man seemed to have been waiting for a few minutes.

Yang gave the waiter a grin, "I'll have what he's having." Her gaze turned back to her date, grin not faltering one bit. "After all, he has more experience in fine dining."

* * *

Jaune felt copious amounts of sweat trickle down as he walked down the street. Under normal circumstances he would be fine. The night air in Vale was exceptionally crisp, usually accompanied by a faint breeze from the ocean. However, these were certainly not normal circumstances. Not when you had Yang hanging off your arm. He had no clue what she was planning, but it wouldn't be good.

"So where's our last stop Yang?" He asked as the two continued their stroll, arm in arm. The knight nearly flinched backward as the young woman shrugged, briefly pushing her ample assets against his arm. It didn't help that she was wearing a surprisingly modest dress that felt _very_ thin.

"Dunno. I was thinking we could just check out the sights." She admitted in a calmer fashion than he was used to from Yang. Thinking nothing of it, the Arc male kept his eye out for dark alleyways. Last time he was out in Vale at night it didn't exactly go well. "Do you have anything in particular you wanted to do?"

Jaune picked at his mind for something that would be available at this time of day that Yang would enjoy. I _was_ a date after all, might as well let her have some fun. He sighed, "Know any good clubs?"

Yang grinned, "I'm upset that you felt the need to ask."

* * *

"Strawberry Sunrise. No ice. Oh, and one of those little umbrellas." The bartender gave her a look, giving Jaune the feeling that maybe coming here was a bad idea.

"Blondie, you'd better not be here to destroy the club again." Groaned the barkeep. He was a large man, easily a head taller than him, and was fairly bulky. Definitely looked like someone you didn't want to mess with, so why was Yang messing with him? And what did he mean by _again_?

The blonde woman laughed, waving it off. "Not today Junior. I'm here with a date." She gestured at him as she leant on the counter. Jaune waved awkwardly at the larger man. It was weird having to look up to talk to someone.

"The name's Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it." If he was going to give the barkeep a bad impression, might as well hit it home. To his surprise the black haired man laughed,

Unfortunately it wasn't for the best of reasons. "_This_ is your date blondie? You've got a strange taste." Yang poked her tongue out at him as she received her drink, fiddling with the umbrella idly.

"I think his social awkwardness is cute." Jaune gave her a blank look, "He's a pretty good guy to boot, ain't that right Vomit Boy?" He coughed as she punched his shoulder playfully. There was nothing gentle about the blonde boxer. But she did look rather beautiful...

"Any reason why Casanova here is wearing uniform while you're wearing… that?" Questioned the older man as he wiped the bar, asking something that had been on his mind for a while too. The knight turned his attention to the counter when Junior gave him a look. There was something about the way the bar sparkled that made him think today had been a relatively slow day.

Yang laughed nervously, "No reason. I just like a guy in uniform." She sent a wink his way that just flew over his head. That had reminded him, when _did_ Yang take the time to change? She was wearing her combat clothes back on the airship, so it had to be between then and the restaurant. "Anything you want to drink?" Jaune blinked, taking a moment to register the question.

"Uh, water-"

"He'll have what I'm having Junior." The blond student gave her a look, was she serious? The girl took a sip of her drink, oblivious to his stare.

"Aren't we underage?"

Yang shrugged, "'Old enough to kill Grimm, old enough to drink.' That's what Uncle Qrow once told me." Jaune raised a brow at the lie. He turned to the bartender and Junior returned his gaze with a sigh,

"If I deny her she'll just destroy the club." Jaune groaned along with the man, of course she would. It just surprised him that she hadn't been called to court by the owner. He watched as the man slid a drink over the bar to him. He kept an eye on the red and yellow drink, not daring to touch it as if it would jump out and attack him. "Good luck kid." Laughed Junior gruffly.

Yang have him a smirk as she tapped his glass with her own. "Cheers."

* * *

Yang groaned as she dragged Jaune out of the airship, how did he get heavier over the course of their date? _Mental note, never bring Jaune out drinking again_. Never had she seen such a confused drunk. It was almost as if he didn't even know what kind of drunk he was supposed to be. One moment he was flirty, then fight-y, then dead inside. And it was just his first drink. She had barely finished drinking her own when he threw a punch at her before collapsing into a bear hug.

Unfortunately, out of the various drunk styles he went through, the drunk that would not stop spilling secrets was not one of them.

At least he hadn't thrown up, so that was a win in her books. And there was the fact he had called her dress beautiful, but he was drunk so that didn't count. "Yang where have you been?!" Cried a voice, cutting her from her thoughts. Ruby? "I've been trying to contact you for an hour." The busty woman turned her eyes from the unconscious blond to face her sister. What could've possibly happened to warrant worry from Ruby while she was gone?"

To her surprise, Beacon was half destroyed, students were panicking everywhere and Ozpin was currently being held up from the collar by a woman that barely reached his torso. He was practically kneeling as she held him up. "Tell me where my son is or I will break it." She threatened, waving a mug of coffee dangerously.

"ANYTHING BUT THAT!" Cried the Headmaster uncharacteristically. Never had she seen him break down like that before, though the time Goodwitch lowered the coffee budget came close. "I swear I don't know where Mr Arc went." Yang turned to the unconscious Arc next to her.

"Whoops."

* * *

**Poor Yang, she missed out on tripping some of Jaune's flags. Next chapter we'll **_**actually**_** see Jaune's family, and maybe get a little insight into what life was like for the male Arc at home. Follow and favourite if you enjoyed, and please say what I could do better in a review! Next chapter should be done in time for another Halloween Omake. Look forward to it!**

**There weren't as many references in this chapter compared to others, but kudos to those that can spot one.**


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